The Path Not Taken
by Dixie Darlin
Summary: After his volcanic death, Turbo awakens to find himself back in TurboTime, the year 1987. Will he make the same choices in life that he did before, or will he embark on a completely different path? (rated for minor violence)
1. Chapter 1

_Inspired by something JustSomeAverageGuy suggested in a review for me to try out. This will be a shorty, but hopefully a goody._

* * *

**The Path Not Taken**

He could do nothing but watch helplessly as his cybrid body obediently flew itself closer towards the blinding tower of molten cola, his arms flailing about uselessly as he tried to take control of his new form. The cy-bug's programming was the dominant personality though, overriding his original code, and all hope was soon abandoned that he could ever escape his certain death.

The boiling soda seeped into his code like a tidal wave of liquid flame, incinerating every byte of his being, his screams muted instantly as indescribable agony took over his senses. White light filled his vision, so much that he could see nothing else. He could feel his pixels separate from him, his body stretching into oblivion until there would be nothing left of him.

Was this how it was really going to end? All his years of hard work and living in secrecy, ruining others' lives in the process, had all led to his painful demise. This wasn't how it was supposed to end, he was meant to remain the greatest racer of all time, fulfilling his life's purpose no matter what the cost. Things were going so well until that _wrecker_ showed up. Life would have kept on going the way it had been, King Candy would still rule over _Sugar Rush_ as its top racer. His unmatchable racing skills would have continued to be revered by all, respect and admiration _his_.

No more.

Death was the only certainty he had now, darkness quickly overshadowing the flash of light from before. Had he known that the path he had taken in life would lead to this moment, he might would have done something different. Any moment in his life, he could have chosen to do the opposite of what he actually did, changing the course of his life drastically. But what? What could he have done, and when?

Better question..._would_ he?

The darkness was all he knew for a time, how long he did not know. He wasn't even aware of being fully conscious until the solidifying effect of his pixels rearranging back into a physical form brought him back to his senses. Yellow eyes blinking, he stretched out a gray hand to observe before looking down at his old red and white jumpsuit. He brought his hands to his chest to feel his heart beating.

Was he alive? How was this possible? Only inky darkness surrounded him and he floated in one place, twisting his head about in bafflement and fear. Where was he? Was this the afterlife? Was he destined to be here, alone and forgotten for the rest of his eternity?

Another bright light appeared, this time a small orb in the distance just ahead of him. It slowly widened until it reached him, swallowing him completely. The blinding nature of the light caused him to close his eyes once more, his hands in front of his face as if to shield him. He felt as though he were falling, tumbling down until-

Turbo jerked with a start when he landed. Surprisingly it was not a rough landing, in fact it was very soft and warm. He opened his eyes, wide with confusion and sat up immediately. It was a bed, a large one with red covers and fancy canopy drapes, currently pulled back with silky ropes. The room was alabaster white...just like he knew the rest of the house would be.

Panic gripped him and he leaped from the bed and rushed to the large picture window that he knew was located on the left hand side of the room, flinging the curtains back in a rush. Gaping, he stared outside with his nose and hands placed against the glass, unable to believe what was in front of him.

He was back in _TurboTime_.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Path Not Taken**

Turbo couldn't force himself away from his window, still staring out at his all-too-familiar oval-shaped yellow track which was simple in nature but back then it had been good enough for him and the gamers. The stadium that overlooked the track was presently empty; the fuzzy outlines of a non-sentient audience only appeared when a Quarter Alert sounded, false cheers of praise sounding from them as they heralded their star. The garage would be somewhere behind it, the cars belonging to himself and his two competitors residing within.

His muscles tightened and his stomach felt nauseous as he overlooked his old domain, his _home_. Surely this was a dream! Turbo peeled himself from the window and delivered a hard slap to his face, stinging his cheek in the process, yet nothing about his surroundings changed.

He was _home_...he was _really_ there. Turbo bolted to his door, swinging it open wildly, and dashed into his hallway to the staircase located to the left. More alabaster greeted him along with splashes of red accents to break up the white space. The elegant stairs led down into a large foyer with a high ceiling which featured a skylight to let in the natural daylight of the game. If he were to turn left, there would be a large guest room in which parties had been thrown, complete with a DJ station. If he were to turn right, there would be a kitchen with a small table set inside, just big enough for him and a few other guests.

Out of curiosity, he went into the kitchen and opened his refrigerator, half expecting it to be empty yet it was not. There were a few leftover take-home bags from _BurgerTime_ inside along with a few bottles of root beer from _Tapper'_s, and even a half-eaten pie he had gotten from Mary over at _Fix-It Felix, Jr_'s. He hadn't realized he was starving until now, not sure how long it had been since he'd eaten, and he greedily grabbed at one of the _BurgerTime_ bags and dug until he found the delectable burger inside, shoving it in his mouth in haste and not even caring that it was cold. He snubbed the pie, as it was a dessert and he'd had enough of those while in _Sugar Rush_, but he _did_ go for the root beer. Cracking it open, he guzzled it down to wash the remains of his quick snack down before-

"Hey, Tur~rbs! You awake yet?"

Turbo spat out his last swallow of root beer, spraying the contents of his fridge in soda and spit before swinging around just in time to see his kitchen door open up. The two beaming faces of his former co-racers peeped at him with wide eyes full of playful mischief.

"There you are!" Ted exclaimed in his usual chipper way, bounding over to him to give him a huge hug in typical Ted fashion. "We figured you'd still be asleep!"

The very confused former king and cybrid couldn't even respond, much less return the friendly gesture. Out of shock, he had dropped his bottle of root beer and allowed it to smash on the white tile floor below.

"Gosh, Turbs, make a mess why don't you?" Teddy joked with a playful smirk as he opted to hang back. He was always considered the leader out of the two identical NPC's, most of the pranks that they played being _his_ ideas.

"What...what are you guys doing here?" Turbo stammered out at last. _They should be dead...they didn't escape the game in time when it was unplugged...but obviously the game is still plugged in. What's going on here?_

Ted pulled off of him, still smiling brightly. "We just wanted to visit you, that's all!"

"Yeah, it's Monday so the arcade's closed," Teddy added, raising a brow in speculation at Turbo's almost fearful expression. "You all right, man? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Turbo put a hand to his forehead, feeling the cold sweat that had formed there suddenly. He felt lightheaded at this sudden change in his reality and all the blood rushed out of his face, his eyes rolled back in his head.

"Turbo? _Turbs_?"

His vision went dark and he collapsed.

* * *

When he awoke, he felt something wet and cool on his face and he panicked, jerking from the chair he had been placed in and grabbing at the foreign object to get it off him. A wet rag, he had freaked out over a wet rag. Yeah, way to be turbo-tastic. His heart raced and his mind scrambled to make sense of his environment. The kitchen, he was still in the kitchen, now sitting in one of his table chairs. The twins must have sat him there after he fainted.

"Turbo, it's okay, you just passed out," he heard Teddy tell him from the side, but he wasn't really paying attention to him. His stomach clenched and he felt his earlier snack rising up into his throat, and he ran to the sink in order to avoid puking on his nice clean floor. He continued to cough afterwards and he ran the faucet to empty the sink out and splash his face, breathing deeply as his mind tried to continue making sense of all of this.

"Did you pick up a virus somewhere?" Ted asked worriedly from behind.

"I'm_ fine_," Turbo croaked out in aggravation, keeping his head down while removing his helmet so he could let the cool water run over his head, his short black hair plastering to his skull.

Okay, he needed to think about this. Somehow, he had traveled back in time to his old life before he ever game-jumped into _RoadBlasters_...but how far did he go? Was _RoadBlasters_ even plugged in yet? If not, when _would_ it be?

He pulled his head out of the sink and shook the water off of him, not bothering to dry off fully before jamming his helmet back on his head. Turning around now, he noticed the identical looks of concern that the twins were giving him. The three of them looked similar enough, but the twins were thinner built and had longer faces with round button noses; also, they didn't have dark shadows around their eyes. Overall, they looked younger than him even though they were all the same programmed age, whatever _that _was...somewhere close to thirty, he always thought.

"What year is it?" Turbo heard himself inquiring, gripping the sink behind him as he awaited the answer.

The twins exchanged quick glances but he didn't care. He knew they'd think it was a crazy question, but he _needed_ to know.

"You must have hit your head pretty hard," Teddy stated slowly, sticking his hands in his pockets.

He felt annoyance and impatience sweep over him, his brow lowering into a glare and a scowl appearing on his face. "Just _tell_ me!" he demanded irritably.

Ted jerked at the sudden hostility. "It's 1987," he answered him quickly, not liking it when Turbo got snippy with them.

1987. Turbo ran the year in his head. That was when _RoadBlasters_ first came out. All right, so all he had to do was look outside his own game's screen to see if said rival was positioned in its spot and he'd have a vague idea of _when_ he was. Ignoring the perplexed faces of his co-racers, he flew past them to exit his kitchen and then out the front door onto his grassy lawn. He jogged until he reached the bleachers, climbing the stairs to get up to the very top and cupped his hands around his eyes to help ease the glare from the screen.

There it was. _RoadBlasters,_ in all its glory, was still staring back at him as if to mock the future unplugging of _TurboTime, _just like before. The old familiar feel of jealousy and hatred came back to him as if this were all brand-new to him, even though it had happened almost twenty-five years ago. If not for that game, _TurboTime_ would have continued being the most popular in the arcade.

Shaking with rage, Turbo plopped down roughly on the bleacher seat, burying his face in his fists. Why was this happening to him..._again_? It had been bad enough watching player after player abandon his game for the newer model the _first_ time he had experienced it, and now he was stuck having to do it all over again. Were the arcade gods, if there were such beings, playing some twisted game with him? Was he in his own personal Hell, destined to relive this nightmare for all time? Had the hard reset of _Sugar Rush_ somehow reset _him_ so much that he broke the barrier of time itself?

A thought crossed his mind and he hurriedly reached inside the chest part of his uniform. No, it wasn't there. So he hadn't yet found the _Tapper's_ napkin with the Universal Code written on it. Funny how that happened, he was sitting in _Tapper's_ having a drink, about two days before he game-jumped, and just noticed some schmuck left it there by accident close by him. Could've been picked up by anybody, it just happened to be _him_ who found it...like it was_ destiny_. Of course he hadn't known what it was at the time he had game-jumped, that wouldn't happen until he went into solitude and really took a good hard look at it.

His brain hurt from all the shock waves it was going through. There _had_ to be a reason he returned to this time. Nothing happened without a reason. The obvious answer hit him almost as soon as he questioned it: he had been given a second chance. That _had_ to be it. He had screwed up his life in _Sugar Rush_ and resulted in getting killed. Maybe he could do something differently _now_ that would change his future and keep himself alive.

But _what_?

So many possibilities ran in his head of things he could do differently that it made his head spin. If he simply wanted to keep Wreck-It Ralph from entering _Sugar Rush_ later on, he could just kill him now and be done with it. However, that would be much more difficult than it sounded, seeing as how he _was_ a giant. Maybe he could kill off Vanellope? Then he wouldn't have to worry about her possibly ever crossing the finish line and resetting the game, securing his place as king. All he had to do was drag her out into the electrical cord tunnel outside the actual realm of the game and do away with her, instead of making her a glitch. Then again, that would be even harder to do than what he had done to begin with since he would literally have to drag her physically outside the portal instead of just secretly tampering with codes while the castle was empty.

Turbo was beginning to think that perhaps he should just forget _Sugar Rush_ altogether. After all, that would require him re-enacting every single aspect of his life prior to his arrival there in the exact same manner as he did the first time so it wouldn't affect anything_ too_ much, and he honestly didn't think he could do that. Also, he didn't feel like reliving his many years of solitude following his game-jumping stunt, nor did he care to go around acting like a total fruitcake in a pink...err..._salmon_ castle.

So what was he to do? He very well wouldn't stand for _RoadBlasters_ taking away his thunder, oh no sir. He wasn't about to go through _that_ again.

"Turbo, what the heck are you doing up here?"

Dang it all, he had already forgotten about the twins, both of them making their way up to where he was sitting. They always liked following him around and pestering him for some reason, like annoying little brothers. And like a typical big brother, Turbo had more than once yelled at them and given them cold shoulder treatments in hopes that they would quit bothering him. That usually worked on Ted, the more sensitive one, but it would have the opposite effect on the more headstrong Teddy. He would just keep bugging Turbo 'til he finally went into a near psychotic fit.

Turbo sighed deeply as he was flanked on both sides by each twin, sitting down with him. Whatever he planned on doing, it was going to be more difficult if they kept following him around like puppies.

"You really shouldn't be thinking too much about it," he heard Teddy say gently after a short period of silence, knowing he was referring to _RoadBlasters_. "I know it's slacked up around here since it showed up, but I'm sure once the newness wears off of it, the kids will come back to ours."

The white-clad star didn't bother looking up, continuing to stare angrily at his red-booted feet with his fists propping his head up. He felt Ted lean over on him from the right to give him a side hug, something that he found both aggravating and strangely welcoming at the same time. He hadn't been hugged in _years, _and it was kind of nice to have one again, but he'd really rather not have Ted be the one to give them all the time.

"Even if we _do_ get unplugged, we'll still have each other, right?" he asked in his quiet voice.

A pang of guilt swept into Turbo from out of nowhere. In the past, he had left them to die within the game as they had no clue they were getting unplugged until it was too late. He suddenly wondered what had been running through their heads when he had game-jumped or when they realized they were unable to escape into Game Central Station before their untimely deaths. Had they hated him for what he did in their final moments, cursing them with their last breaths? Or had they cried in fear, huddled together as their pixels ripped away from them?

He would never know, because they were alive again and obviously had no recollection of the past...future...whatever. Only _he_ had been blessed-slash-cursed with the memories of what he had done. It was all quite maddening and it only further made his headache worse.

"Yeah...sure," he answered Ted hollowly.

Whether or not he meant that, he wasn't sure. He wasn't sure of _anything_ right now.

Turbo slowly raised his head up, keeping his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped together in front of him, his eyes still fixated forward at the blasphemous rival in front of him.

"I want to see my car."

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**Thanks for all the reviews, faves, and follows so far! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

_Apple: If she does appear, it will be an alternate reality where they haven't met yet, and it will be either a cameo or a very small role. _

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**The Path Not Taken**

The twins had thought it rather strange for him to specifically ask to see his car, especially when he had just used it not too long ago in _their_ eyes and also that he had never asked them to escort him to the garage before. Turbo wouldn't dare admit it out loud, but he was rather petrified to see the car. He had this bizarre thought that if he saw it, it would somehow make this scenario even _more_ real, thus more permanent.

When he laid his eyes on his old red-and-white racer, a wave of nostalgia flooded into him and he had to bite his tongue to keep from passing out again. He had wrecked it so much in _RoadBlasters_ that he had been unable to drive it out of the game, having to escape on foot before getting unplugged with it. If he had been given the choice of _this_ car and the kart he had stolen for King Candy's use, he would definitely pick the former. And there it sat before him, perfectly untouched and gleaming with a fresh coat of wax as if he had just put it on there himself the day before.

When he thought about it, obviously he _had_ put it on there the day before, who _else_ would have?

Emotion welled up inside him as he went up to the vehicle and placed his hands on the hood's cool, smooth exterior. Whatever his decisions be from this point on, he was _not_ losing this car again. It had been programmed to be a part of him, after all, like they were one and the same, one single being flying down the track towards victory.

"Turbo, are you sure you're all right?" Teddy's voice sounded, interrupting his thoughts. "You're acting..._odd_."

His fists curled again and he shut his eyes tight, a grimace appearing on his face. "Just leave me alone."

He didn't bother turning around to see their reactions, but he knew from memory that at least Ted would be hurt by his request. When he didn't hear their footsteps leaving, he turned his head to peer behind him in order to send a glare in their direction.

"Did you hear what I said?" he snapped bitterly.

As expected, Ted had his eyes glued to his feet with a small frown on his face. Teddy, however, continued to stick to his guns and give off his own glare.

"Look, I don't know what's up with you, but there's no need to act like a jerk," he said firmly, crossing his arms in front of him as he spoke. "If something's eatin' at ya, might help to talk about it instead of getting all grouchy at us. You've been acting out of sorts since we came over earlier and quite frankly we're worried about you."

Something snapped in him and he whirled around to face the two of them, absolute outrage evident in his eyes.

"You two are talking about me behind my back?" he spat out harshly, prompting Ted to hide behind his brother. "You think I'm_ crazy_ or something? Think ol' Turbo has finally lost his marbles? _Huh_? Is _that_ it?"

Throwing his hands up in front of him in a peace-seeking gesture, Teddy hastily replied, "Whoa, Turbs, calm down! We never thought anything like that!"

"W-we just don't want you being sad, th-that's all," added Ted shakily, daring to peek over his twin's shoulder to look at Turbo. "If that's what's wrong, anyway."

Sad? Why would he...wait, be sad about _RoadBlasters_? HA! They vastly misunderstood the situation at hand if they didn't catch that he was _irate_ about that thunder-stealing game, both back then _and_ now.

"You two don't even _know_ me!" Turbo growled, the contemptuous acid dripping from his words. He spun back around and gripped the top edge of his car's door. "Just get out of here and leave me in _peace_."

He heard what sounded like Ted whimpering and then Teddy saying in a tense voice, "Fine, we'll go. We don't have to stand here and get verbally abused like this. Come find us when you feel like apologizing. Come on, bro."

Turbo continued to squeeze his fingers into the side of his door, gritting his teeth and squinting his eyes so hard that they hurt, until finally he couldn't hear their footsteps anymore. He let his temper subside after that, his heart racing and his muscles sore from being tight for so long. He knew he needed to control his anger lest he screw up his new-old life in such a way that it would be impossible to fix. However, he had lived so long with bitterness and dark pride corroding his code, that he wasn't sure if he would be able to keep it in check. He had changed so much since his _TurboTime_ days, and it was beyond irritating to be placed back at square one.

_Calm down. You need to keep a clear head. Think! _

All right, so Teddy had said earlier that it was Monday, Litwak's one day off. Turbo struggled to remember the order of events that had occurred when he had game-jumped, and deduced that it had been a Thursday afternoon when he had done the deed. That meant that he had a few days to figure out what he wanted to do with his future before he actually did anything.

Heck, who even said he had to game-jump on Thursday? He could do it right _now_ if he wanted, or even a _month_ from now. Now that he knew that _both_ games went under because of his jumping during arcade hours, he would be able to actually plan his course of action out rather than just rashly blitzing into_ RoadBlasters_ like he had the first time. He could peek in their Code Room, alter things to his liking, then make himself part of the game like he had done in _Sugar Rush_. It would calculated, precise.

Except that he needed that Universal Code from _Tapper's;_ he had to get his hands on that napkin before someone else picked it up. There was no telling what would happen if such power were to fall in anyone else's hands. Something as simple as it being thrown away could happen or maybe an actual game villain might get it...maybe someone even worse than Turbo himself would wind up possessing it. He cursed himself for not having photographic memory; the only thing he could remember was there was a B and an A at the end of it followed by pressing the Start button.

No, he _had _to get it back. It was unnerving to think how his life would turn out if someone else started tampering with codes. There might someone lurking around Game Central Station who had a death wish against him and would use it to enter _his_ Code Room and do something that would make him glitch up or kill him. One thing for certain, he needed to be in _Tapper's_ at the same exact moment in time as before so that only he would be able to find the napkin with scrawled handwriting on it.

Whose handwriting had it been anyway? He always wondered where it came from, who had owned it before he ever showed up. How had _their_ life been altered by no longer having their little cheat on them?

Turbo never realized just _how_ many little things shaped the course of people's lives. He could have chosen to walk in a different direction one day, talked or not talked to someone one day, and his life would have changed for better or worse. His head spun thinking about all this and he opened his car's door to sit down in the familiar black seat, allowing himself to relax fully for the first time since he'd arrived home.

He had a _lot_ of thinking to do.

* * *

Teddy laid on his bed facing up towards the ceiling with his hands folded behind his head, wearing a bored expression. His brother was on the floor drawing a sketch of his car with a pencil; he was the only one patient enough to be an artist out of the group. When he finished, he took a moment to admire it then sighed deeply and tilted his head up towards the bed.

"You think Turbo needs cheering up?" Ted asked out loud.

Teddy scoffed and replied, "Turbo needs a swift kick in the pants. Who does he think he is yelling at us like that? And accusing us of talking crap about him behind his back? Talk about paranoid."

"I think he's just worried about that new game is all," the other mused quietly, looking down at his drawing. "I mean, I know he gets upset as it is, but he's gotten worse since it arrived. He's been yelling more than usual."

He was right. As soon as Litwak parked _RoadBlasters_ within their view and Turbo had been abandoned in mid-game, his car stopping dead in its place waiting for someone to regain control of it so the current game could finish, the avatar had been acting out more and more. It had only been a week, but Turbo was certain that they were doomed to be unplugged due to lack of players. His self-esteem and pride had taken a huge blow at the notion that they were possibly going to be homeless soon, despite the twins trying to act like everything was normal.

As a result, he had gotten more irritable with them and said unnecessary remarks to them meant to hurt. He even started overreacting to pranks that they'd pull; just the other day, Ted had thrown a water balloon at him and Turbo nearly went blue in the face screaming obscenities at him over it, when before he might have just growled under his breath and tried to chase him around to get revenge. Heck, Teddy dared think that Turbo had _enjoyed_ getting pranked, or at least getting his payback for them. They weren't technically related to him but they were still family; they were all part of the same game so that had to count for something. It was all like some weird bonding thing between them.

"I think he needs something to keep his mind off _RoadBlasters_," Ted piped up again. "Like, if he doesn't think about it, maybe he'll start acting the way he _used_ to act."

Teddy chewed his bottom lip in consideration. "Maybe. That's all he ever thinks about anymore though, I don't know if we can come up with anything to rival that."

"We have to _try_," his twin insisted gently. "You saw how he looked at his car today. I think he's depressed. He's been out of it all morning. He needs to go out and _do_ something. I'm really worried about him."

Teddy rolled over onto his back so that he could look down at his brother, who was lying prone on the floor with his elbows propping him up. He sighed when he saw the look of concern that he was wearing.

"What exactly do you have in mind?"

Ted shrugged and looked back down at the carpet. "I dunno, I guess just something where there's other people around. That way there'll be too much going on for him to think about things."

"The only places I can think of are _Tapper's_ and _BurgerTime_ that's like that."

"No, not _Tapper's_," Ted shook his head at that one. "Last thing he needs is root beer."

"I guess we can take him to get something to eat then, he _did _puke earlier." Teddy sat himself up off the bed and stretched his arms out. "All right, I'll go fetch him. If he's in a sour mood, I don't want you around him anymore than you have to be."

His brother smiled gratefully. "Thanks."


	4. Chapter 4

_Sorry about the long wait guys. Here's chapter four!_

* * *

**The Path Not Taken**

Game Central Station. It had been too long since Turbo had wandered the vast congregation space that connected all the game portals together, the only way that anyone could go travel from one game to another. If Litwak had chosen to plug everyone's cabinets to their own personal outlet, it would be much more difficult or near impossible to game-jump. The idea of traveling to another arcade all together had crossed the racer's mind but he was fairly positive that it would be in vain to even try; after all, he had no clue _where_ another arcade would be and thus would not know what direction to take once he crawled through the wall outlet's exit. He might end up in someone's personal home computer, or a television screen, or even some phone charger that would take him inside someone's cell phone.

Not that Turbo knew any of these things existed, as he was not familiar with everything involving the outside world. The idea alone that he could end up in some unknown territory and be potentially trapped there was terrifying enough to keep him from thinking too much on the idea of leaving Litwak's Family Fun Center for new and unexplored horizons.

So here he stayed and for the first time in years, he stepped foot into the good ol' GCS along with the twins. He had reluctantly agreed to come out here after Teddy nearly insisted that he do so, just to get Ted to see that he was perfectly all right. Turbo was nowhere closer to deciding what path he wanted to take now that he had been gifted the ultimate restart of his life. So many choices…so many consequences with each choice. He was going to work himself into another grave if he kept thinking too hard on it, and the twins would surely figure out that he was up to something if he continued acting so standoffish.

Surge Protector never stopped anyone that was leaving their own game unless they were carrying something dangerous, like one of Mario's POW blocks. He also never bothered to stop anyone that was heading into another game unless, again, they possessed something potentially dangerous. Turbo had to confess he was momentarily worried that _he_ might be stopped, as if somehow the electrical security officer would know that the racer was in the process of plotting some illegal activity. However, that did not happen. No, Surge Protector would only overkill the checkpoints _after_ the whole "going Turbo" incident, which had not happened yet…and it was still to be decided if it would even happen at all.

Turbo saw a few familiar faces walking about and also several game titles flashing across their appropriate portals that he had not seen in a while. _Asteroids _and _Q*bert_ were still plugged in, for example; _Pac-Man_ was down two spaces further than it had been when he had last seen it (when he had sneaked out of his hiding spot to enter _Sugar Rush_). Sonic's public announcement displays weren't out because Sega hadn't introduced the hedgehog in arcade cabinet form yet. And of course there was _Fix-It Felix, Jr. _whose cabinet was located next door to _TurboTime_, but instead of seeing the game's diminutive protagonist, Turbo saw-

_Wreck-It Ralph_, the racer thought with a scowl as soon as he saw the giant man ambling along at his usual slow pace, his arms swinging lazily by his sides as people quickly moved to get out of his way. He did not speak to anyone and nor did anyone speak to him; it was a quiet journey for him as he made his way to everyone's favorite watering hole, _Tapper_. Turbo felt the ends of his hair bristle as he watched Ralph disappear into the game, his eyes narrowed into yellow slits as if trying to literally shoot death rays at him. The old idea of his to kill that warthog of a man flashed into his mind briefly, then as the trio passed by the root beer pub, Turbo began to wonder about the coded napkin's current whereabouts.

Ted glanced back behind him to watch Turbo follow behind them at his own leisurely pace, his hands stuffed into his pockets, his shoulders slouched over, and his eyes darting back and forth around him as if walking into GCS was a new experience for him. He looked almost paranoid, jerking his head about if something moved too quickly past him or if someone accidentally bumped into him. Afraid to be caught staring, Ted turned his head back around to the front of him and whispered to Teddy that he was acting strange again, to which Teddy simply turned around and told him,

"Hurry it up already! All the good booths are going to be taken if you keep poking along."

Turbo snapped his head forward when he heard he was being addressed, having been distracted by the _Tapper_ sign, and initially replied in the form of a pointed glare.

"Would've gotten there faster if we'd driven," he muttered as he went back to his usual brisk pace to catch up with the brothers.

Ted could only smile at that. "It's nice to take a neighborhood walk sometimes! That way we can talk to people we don't get to see all the time."

Turbo scoffed and rolled his eyes. "You mean 'make friends'," he translated out loud. "There's no such thing. Everyone looks out for themselves when the going gets tough, so what's the point in having allies?"

Ted's face fell and he flicked his eyes over at his twin in a worried fashion.

"Geez, what a thing to say," Teddy piped up, trying to act as casual as possible. "You don't make friends because you think they'll be useful to you in a jam, ya big grouch."

"Then what good are they?" Turbo griped as his eyes caught sight of _RoadBlasters'_ flashing title sign.

Ted started twisting his hands together in a nervous knot. "Well…friends are supposed to be people you have fun with…and have around for support."

"Yeah, goofy," Teddy added jokingly as he gave the star racer a light punch in the arm. "You don't pick 'em so you can get stuff out of them."

"_We're_ your friends, aren't we?"

Turbo rubbed his arm where he'd gotten punched and bitterly replied, "I was stuck with you two the second we got plugged in. That doesn't automatically mean we're _friends_."

He didn't have to look at Ted's face to know that it had been a hurtful remark and just one look at _Teddy's_ face told him that he really should have kept his mouth shut. He stopped in his tracks and jutted a finger roughly against Turbo's chest.

"For code's sake, did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" he asked him with a slight edge in his voice. "Just because you're in a bad mood doesn't mean you can take it out on us. We've been nothing but nice to you since we all met, even when you gloat about winning every race of the day, so if you don't mind can you kindly take a chill pill and knock off the attitude?"

Turbo's brow furrowed at him and he felt his teeth clench together hearing Teddy chastise him like he was a spoiled child. Teddy had his own jaw set firmly with his arms crossed in front of him in a rather haughty pose, signaling that he wasn't going to back down from this. Ted stood off to the side glancing back and forth between them, chewing his lips in a nervous gesture. Finally, Turbo allowed the other to win the glaring battle and he flicked his head to the side and sighed audibly in frustration.

"Whatever, let's just go," he verbally dismissed the whole thing, shoving past the two of them to continue heading in _BurgerTime_'s direction.

Who did they think they were? Trying to act like everything was a-okay and they were all good buddies and that everything was going to be just dandy as long as they stuck together? Naive little idiots, they were just the same now as they had been before. Friends, pah! What good were they? They never once offered any sympathy upon hearing the rumors about _TurboTime_'s possible unplugging. Once Turbo was dropped from his position as Litwak's top dog, everyone had just carried on with their own lives and business as if nothing had happened at all. They never saw or cared about the effect this had all had on the racer, so why should he bother trying to befriend anyone that didn't give a flying rat about him? He could do this all on his own, he always had and apparently always would.

* * *

The booth was eerily quiet as the three racers sat there waiting for their order to be ready. The twins sat together on one side as usual across from Turbo, who was presently slumped in his seat with his arms crossed looking rather peeved about being "dragged" in there. Ted was making a smiley face with the torn bits of his straw wrapper while Teddy had his head propped up on one hand and watching his brother out of sheer boredom.

"Look, Turbs, it's a smiley face!"

"Yeah, something you are in dire need of," Teddy added in a quiet mumble, but still loud enough for Turbo to hear.

Turbo huffed and turned his head away from the two of them just in time to spy Fix-It Felix, Jr. prancing along with that stupid grin of his plastered to his face. That little twerp was the nicest fool in the whole arcade and it never failed to grate the racer's nerves seeing his cheery self go around flashing that innocent smile of his and tipping his hat at people. How could someone be that happy all the time, especially someone whose game was literally about fixing a penthouse that got ruined at least a hundred times a day? It had to be the dumbest game concept Turbo had ever heard of and it never ceased to amaze him that it was still in business.

_And apparently it stayed in business seeing as how I was able to see it from _Sugar Rush_'s screen every day for fifteen years.  
_

"Hi there, neighbors!" Felix greeted them in a bubbly voice as he stopped at the trio's booth on his way out the door. "Swell day we're havin', aren't we?"

"Just peachy," was Turbo's blunt answer, not even bothering to look at the handyman to acknowledge his presence.

Felix didn't catch that he was being sarcastic, so he beamed another grin and merrily stated, "Glad to hear that!"

The racer rubbed his face in exhaustion while muttering something incomprehensible under his breath. Sometimes he thought Felix operated with only half a brain.

"Why aren't you hanging out with your 'little' wrecking buddy?" he asked grouchily, finally twisting his head to pierce his yellow eyes into Felix's blue ones.

Felix's smile transformed into a more confused expression with a hint of sheepishness to it, and he reached up to scratch his head underneath his hat in a nervous manner.

"Gosh, you mean Ralph? I-I don't think he'd like me bothering him, you know. Since he likes to go by himself to _Tapper's_, I mean."

Turbo didn't buy that for a moment, not that he really cared if the two hung out together after work or not. Ralph had game-jumped for a reason, to get a medal in particular, and there had to be a story behind it. He suddenly wondered if maybe the big oaf was _jealous_ of Felix. Why hadn't he thought of that before? And if what Felix just said was true, then apparently Ralph was shunned in his game. Things suddenly started making more sense.

This was all _Felix's_ fault that Ralph game-jumped.

"What makes you think he wants to be alone?" Turbo pressed on coldly, still slumped in his seat with his arms crossed. "Because he likes to go to a crowded bar where there's plenty of people around instead of staying holed up in that brick pile he calls a home? While you stay cooped up in your nice little penthouse with all your worshippers bringing pie to your altar?"

"Turbo!" Ted gasped in disbelief, his jaw somewhat dropped as he looked at the now reddened face of their friendly neighbor.

For once, Felix didn't know exactly how to respond. "I…I…he's the _villain_, Turbo, everyone says you're not supposed to socialize with-"

"Don't feed me that," the racer interrupted him before holding his arms out towards the twins in front of him. "These two are technically considered _my_ villains and you see me hanging out with _them_, don't you? You saying something's wrong with that?"

The twins turned to look at each other, both of them stunned that he had just practically defended the fact that he went out in public with them like this, especially since just fifteen minutes ago he was saying that he didn't even consider them his real friends. Ted gave his brother a little smile as if to say "hear that, he really does care!".

Felix was wringing his cap in his hands now, not sure how he had managed to get himself into a conversation such as this one. If he had to be honest, he never really thought about why he hadn't attempted to befriend Ralph; since the day they were plugged in, it had been the general opinion of everyone to stay out of his way because he was a "bad guy", even after-hours.

"No-no, I'm not s-saying anything's _wrong_ with it," he was stuttering as his voice gradually went up in pitch.

"Then there's no reason why you can't go have a root beer with the big lug after work and show him a little decency. He works just as much as you do, yet you don't see _him_ getting any pats on the backs, do you?"

"Well…no, I guess not…"

Turbo was growing increasingly frustrated at Felix's obtuseness to the situation and slammed an angry fist down on the table, causing everyone that heard to it jump in shock. "Of course not, idiot! Holy motherboard, you go around acting like the world's friendliest puppy and yet you don't even have it in you to be nice to your own co-worker!"

Teddy opened his mouth input that Turbo himself hadn't been very nice to _them_ lately, but Ted grabbed his arm and shook his head at him so he wouldn't accidentally make matters worse. Meanwhile, Felix just stood there gaping at him, opening and closing his mouth like a beached fish, absolutely no idea what to say. Turbo continued glaring at him as if he were both angry and disappointed in the handyman, and he was even shaking a little after his unexpected outburst.

Everyone in the restaurant was staring at their section of the restaurant, even the servers, and all the attention was suddenly making Felix more nervous and embarrassed that he had been put on the spot like this. He wasn't sure what made Turbo suddenly so interested in his relationship, or lack thereof rather, with Ralph but the point was that he had brought it to light.

Defeated, Felix sighed and slowly placed his hat back on his head. "You're right. I suppose I should be nicer to him, since he _is_ a big part of the game. We literally wouldn't _have_ a game without him."

Turbo didn't say anything back, nor did anyone else. With a tip of his hat, Felix bid them all adieu and exited the game. There was someone that he needed to share a root beer with.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Youij**: I will answer reviews to old stories if it is a signed review so that I can leave a PM. But anyway, no, no one's ever asked me that question! Since there's no way she'd ever be in a movie, I'd go with Mandy Moore (even if she DID voice Rapunzel). I think she'd bring the right amount of youthful sweetness with just a hint of firmness when needed._

* * *

**The Path Not Taken**

Felix quietly approached the inside of _Tapper, _where multiple game characters were sitting around drinking their pints of root beer. The little handyman hardly ever came in here as he was not a drinking man, but he didn't have any qualms against people who _did _frequent the place. His blue eyes didn't have to sweep the area for long because Ralph was a rather easy fellow to spot, even amidst a crowd of people.

The large wrecker was sitting alone in his own section of the bar, his back turned to where he could not see Felix. He looked to be in the process of gulping down his third root beer, judging by the two empty mugs next to him. After he was done, he'd hang his head to rest it in one of his over-sized palms, then look up to wave Tapper over to give him another one. Felix gulped nervously, patting his hammer like a good-luck charm as he debated whether this was such a good idea or not. He had never fraternized with Ralph before, so why should a little berating from that hot-shot Turbo be something that bothered him?

_Because you know he's right_, Felix told himself with an air of self-disappointment. He knew better than to think that Ralph could possibly be happy with his reclusive lifestyle. He'd seen the hurt visualized in his face when one of the Nicelanders snubbed him despite his attempts to be friendly. He'd seen the way he'd turn away and sigh dejectedly while walking away towards his stump and brick pile at the end of each game. Felix didn't have such issues; he was welcomed with open arms by everyone he met.

No, it wasn't fair, by golly. Why shouldn't Ralph have some friends? Who cared if he was the "bad guy" of the game? Maybe if Felix reached out to him, other heroes would follow in his footsteps and befriend their own villains. It would create a new dynamic in the arcade, a _better_ one. Everyone would get along and feel equal with their colleagues. Yes...yes, by George, he was going to make friends with Ralph.

So long as Ralph _wanted_ to be friends, that is.

Timidly, Felix came closer to where Ralph was currently working on his fourth drink and he hopped up to get on top of the nearest stool.

"H-hi there, Ralph," he greeted him with trepidation, though he tried to remain calm and sure that this was indeed a good idea. "Um, good day we had today, huh? You, uh, got me pretty good in that last one, ha ha."

Ralph turned his head slowly and stared down at his protagonist with a look that read of suspicion, confusion, and indifference all mixed together. Which was to be expected as he was not used to the handyman speaking to him whatsoever. Felix chuckled nervously and swung his legs in his seat, clasping his hands in front of him to rest on the bar.

"You're pretty good at throwing them bricks, I tell ya. Must get quite a workout."

"What do you want, Felix?"

The wrecker's voice came out low and strained with an edge of curiosity hidden beneath it. He wasn't sure why Felix would be talking to him tonight if he had never attempted to any other night of the last several years. He was just as bad as the others, not inviting him to functions or attempting to socialize with him, though he was admittedly more polite about it.

"Oh, me? Well, I just wondered if, uh, you...wanted...some...company?" Felix stammered out slowly, rubbing the back of his neck and looking up at Ralph with a forced grin that radiated of anxiety.

Ralph stared down at him flatly, not sure if this was a trick or a genuine effort to reach out. He had no reason to believe that Felix would be tricking him, though; after all, he _was_ one of the nicest people in the whole arcade.

"Is that so?" he simply asked before turning his head back to where he could take a few sips of his newest refill of root beer. He wiped his mouth with one of his large forearms and turned his head towards Felix again. "Why now? Why didn't you wonder about that before?"

Good question.

"Well...ya see," Felix began, knowing that he probably sounded stupid. "I was talking to...a friend...and it dawned on me that...well, you're a person too, Ralph. And you deserve to be treated like one."

Ralph hadn't expected that answer. Actually, he didn't know what he had expected, but it certainly hadn't been that. He stared at the pint-sized man with a studious look, mentally deducing whether or not he was being serious or not. After what seemed like forever, Felix finally sighed deeply and said,

"I just reckoned you might like a friend, is all. It doesn't have to be me if you don't want it to be, but I'm willing to make amends with you and start this whole thing over. Whatta ya say, partner?"

"Partner"? He called him "partner". In a way, Ralph guessed that _is_ what he was to Felix. After all, they were each one side of the same proverbial coin, perfect opposites in every way in order to bring balance to their game. However, Ralph wasn't sure if he could forget the last few years of social ostracization he'd been exposed to by everyone around him. On the other hand, if he wasn't able to forgive...what kind of person did that make _him_? He'd be no better than everyone else.

Felix's breath was held as Ralph shifted his large frame in his seat to face him, a look of deep concentration etched into his face. Then, without a word, he lifted one of his giant hands and held it out as if to shake. Felix blinked a couple times, then smiled his big friendly grin and stuck his own small hand out to gently shake with his antagonist. Ralph let go of his little hand and shifted himself back to his original position.

"Care for a root beer, Felix?"

"Well, I don't really-" He stopped himself than chuckled a bit. "Oh, sure, why not!"

* * *

Mr. Egg cleared his throat after Felix had left the premises and said, "Well! _That_ was certainly interesting! Here's your dinner!"

He placed the racers' orders down in front of them before rushing off to go take care of other patrons, who had all returned to their own business after the handyman had disappeared. None of the racers made any move to eat though, all still in shock at what had taken place.

"What in the name of Konami was _that_?" Teddy asked Turbo in a stupefied voice. "I can't believe you just gave Felix a piece of your mind like that! Where did that even come from? Why do you even care about those two, you never talk to them!"

Turbo blankly stared at his burger while Teddy's words soaked in. Why _had_ he butted into Felix's business like that? Why had he gotten so angry about it? Why did he suggest that those two be friends? What had he done to his future by saying such a thing?

The very idea that he could have unintentionally screwed his new future up made him feel sick to his stomach and, ignoring the twins' confused looks, he bolted to the men's room located in the back hallway. He threw his head in the sink and ran the faucet, gagging though nothing was coming up. What had he done? What was going to happen now?

_Relax, moron!_ he scolded himself as he began splashing water on his face. _The only thing that would change from this would be that Ralph more than likely wouldn't go game-jumping, thus never have a reason to visit _Sugar Rush_, thus never meeting the glitch and helping reset the game._

Thing was, he wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to take over _Sugar Rush_ a second time. He didn't know _what_ he wanted to do. If he decided he wanted nothing to do with the candy-themed go-kart game, then he wouldn't have anything to worry about it at all. Why should he care if Ralph meets Vanellope at some point in their lives? It wouldn't affect _him_ if he wasn't involved in the game. This small revelation helped Turbo to calm down; his outburst at Felix had done nothing, everything was fine.

"Turbo?"

He jumped upon hearing his name said behind him and he glanced up in the little mirror above the sink to see Ted looking at him with his usual worried expression. Aggravated at being constantly followed around, he held his head back down so he wouldn't have to look at his reflection anymore.

"What do you want?"

"I just came to see if you were all right," Ted answered him softly.

Turbo stared down into the drain, watching the water swirl into it and listening to the soft gurgle sounds it made. This eventually made him dizzy and he closed his eyes again, blindly turning the faucet off at the same time.

"Um…I thought it was…nice of you to…you know, kind of stick up for ol' Ralph like that," Ted continued in a hesitant voice, pausing every few words as if to think about how to finish his sentence.

"I wasn't," Turbo insisted quickly. "I don't care about him or whether or not he has friends."

"I think you do. Otherwise you wouldn't have said any of that stuff you said," Ted pointed out gently, treading carefully around Turbo while he was still on edge. "Everyone needs friends. I think you care more than you put on."

"Why do _you_ care?" Turbo had to ask. "Why do you care about anything I say, do, think, or _anything_?"

If he had looked up, he would've seen the widened look of surprise Ted suddenly displayed. "How can you ask that? We care because you're family."

"I'm not your brother."

Ted didn't respond right away, then said, "No, but…I guess you're like our _cousin_. Something like that."

Cousin. They thought of him like a cousin, a close enough member to the family you could get without being an actual sibling. What kind of family member leaves the others to die like he had done though? He had left them to die while he went off selfishly hopping into another game, abandoning them to their fates. He hadn't thought much of it until now...now that they were alive again.

"Even when I yell at you guys and hurt your feelings? You still think that way?"

"Sure we do." He sounded surprised that Turbo had to ask that. "Families don't hate each other just because one of them has a bad day or gets an attitude."

Turbo didn't have a response for that, just kept his head down in the sink while he silently breathed in and out through his nose, his hands gripping the edges of the sink. He felt Ted wrap his arms around him from behind in a hug and he instinctively rammed his elbow into his stomach to force him off.

"Stop _doing_ that!" Turbo growled as he twisted himself around to see Ted holding his stomach where he'd been hit at. "I don't need pity out of you, either one of you."

Ted had some tears brimming his eyes. "But…but…Turbs," he whimpered with a sniffle. "We love you, we don't like seeing you like this. We're worried."

Love? What was he babbling about? Family, love, what kind of insanity was he being subjected to? Why did they care so much about him when all he had done was think solely of himself his entire life? He needed to get away from here, away from everyone, get somewhere where he could think properly. He didn't think he could stand an entire existence being around all this crap Ted was spewing.

Ignoring Ted's calling for him, he burst himself out of the restroom, shoving past Mr. Pickle who had been carrying someone's food in his hands. He didn't so much as look at Teddy as he went past their table, and then finally boarded the little train that took people in and out of the game. Where he was going, he didn't know, but he needed to get out of there.

* * *

Teddy appeared alarmed when he saw Turbo suddenly rush past him and moved to get up after him but he felt Ted's hand on his shoulder. When he saw the tears running down his brother's face, Teddy grabbed him to pull him back down in the booth and whispered,

"Did he say something ugly to you again?"

Ted shook his head and reached a hand up to wipe his face. "Not really."

"What do you mean, 'not really'? Either he did or he didn't."

"Teddy, I think he wants to hurt himself," Ted whispered quietly, looking down at his lap. "He acted like it hurt him to hear that we cared about him. He got so _defensive_ about it, like he didn't want to hear it at all."

His twin didn't reply at first, only leaned back a little as if in shock that he'd just heard that. He looked around them before clearing his throat.

"You don't really think he'd do something drastic, do you?"

"I'm not sure. He just seems so conflicted. I'm really concerned about him."

Teddy never dreamed that Turbo would get to this point. He knew that RoadBlasters' arrival had taken a huge toll on his psyche but not to this extent. Still, there was the possibility that Ted was jumping to conclusions with his usual emotional self.

"Well, let's not hound him about it," Teddy finally said after a few moments of pregnant silence. "Let's just bag up our dinner to take home and go find him."


	6. Chapter 6

_I'm sorry if this story doesn't get updated all that quickly, it's harder to write more serious stuff so I have to take my time with it. I don't want to post crap after all. Also sorry if these chapters are shorter than what I am used to doing. Thanks again to all my readers! :) Love y'all. PS, nice little cameo here for you guys familiar with my past work ;)_

* * *

**The Path Not Taken**

Turbo sat on the nearest bench he came to as soon as he entered the GCS. Hunched over to where he could rest his head on his hands, his elbows on his knees for support, he cycled the air in his lungs harshly as he attempted to recuperate from his mild tantrum. He stared at the floor between his feet, not really looking at it but rather past it. Too many restless thoughts flew through his coded mind and he was unable to think clearly.

"Do you need some help?"

The unexpected voice came from somewhere in front of him, a young lady's voice to be precise, and it sounded irritatingly sweet, kind, and full of concern. Turbo didn't bother to look up to see her, instead closing his eyes to the whole world. The last thing he felt like dealing with was nosy passers-by inquiring as to why he was sitting out here acting as if he was in distress.

"I'm in the middle of an identity crisis, if you don't mind," he growled lowly, his hands turning into fists at the sides of his helmet. "I doubt anyone can help with that."

He didn't hear the random girl say anything right away and he would've thought that she'd simply left if it hadn't been for the fact that he didn't hear any footsteps leaving him. This only made him angrier, he was in no mood to be pestered.

"That sounds...pretty serious," the girl replied in a softer tone than earlier, sounding almost afraid that she'd get bitten if she spoke too loudly to him. "Hey, you're Turbo, right?"

He chuckled mockingly at the absurd question. "Unless there's another racing game starring a guy with a red T slashed on his helmet, I guess that's me."

He thought maybe if he was sarcastic or gruff enough that she'd leave him alone but, once again, he never heard her walk away. What kind of dumb broad was this, couldn't she tell when people wanted some private time?

"Look, chick, will ya beat it already?" he finally snapped, still not looking up at her or making a move to change positions. "I'm not in the mood to chit-chat."

He heard her sigh at being rudely dismissed before hearing her say, "I just thought you looked like you needing cheering up. I wouldn't be a very good cheerleader if I didn't at least try."

"Sorry to bust your bubble, but you're only doing a great job of _annoying_ me. So am-scray."

"Okay...um...sorry," she fumbled with her words, obviously flustered. "I hope your day gets better. Bye."

After a few more long seconds of silence, the girl sighed again and then finally she left. Took her long enough. He didn't have time to entertain little girls that thought they could be an emotional support system to a "brooding" male.

"Turbs, there you are!" he heard Teddy calling for him from somewhere to his right. Can't he be left alone for more than two seconds around here?!

He heard two sets of approaching footsteps belonging to the twins and they each sat on one side of him, same as they did in the bleachers earlier. Turbo picked his head up at this point but kept his hunched over position, resting his chin on his now clasped hands.

Teddy had a smirk on his face and he playfully socked him in the shoulder. "Hey, who was the cute girl you were talking to?"

"I wasn't talking to her," the star racer corrected him quickly, a slight edge in his voice. "She was _trying_ to, but I told her to shove off. I didn't even look at her."

"You're hopeless, you know that?" Teddy told him with a shake of the head.

Turbo felt himself getting peeved again but he didn't storm off. "What are you, my matchmaker? Give me a break, that's the last thing I need."

"I'm just playin' with you, don't get so ruffled," the other told him with a tired smile, before gripping at the top of Turbo's helmet to shake gently in a teasing fashion.

The white-clad star turned his head to sneer at Teddy and straightened his helmet back in its proper position. Ted gulped and cleared his throat, almost too afraid to say anything lest Turbo just yell at him some more.

"We...we bagged your dinner to take with you...for later," he informed him quietly, the little take-home bags sitting on the bench beside him.

_Yeah, like I don't have enough left-overs already, judging by what I saw in my fridge earlier_, Turbo thought to himself but he only said, "Thanks", out loud. That was enough to make Ted feel a little better and he started relaxing.

Turbo started thinking some more. Today was Monday...he game-jumped on a Thursday...he had found the_ Tapper's_ napkin two days before that, so that meant Tuesday. In other words, tomorrow was the day that he needed to go inside the root beer pub and get his hands on it. If he recalled correctly, he showed up about an hour after Litwak closed up shop. Of course, his memory of certain details was still fuzzy since this all happened such a long time ago. He began to get nervous that he might not be able to find the napkin again, worried that someone else might find it.

He felt Ted's hand on his shoulder and he tilted his head to the left to face him, noticing once again the concerned expression he was wearing. _Family,_ he had said. Whether it made sense or not, family members naturally fretted about each other so it only made sense for Ted to be upset when he himself was upset. He was the sensitive one, after all.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," he mumbled as he flicked his eyes back to the floor. "I was already frustrated about something and I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

"It's okay," he heard Ted say softly, though he wasn't sure if he believed it or not. Since apparently the twins were going to be following him everywhere, he needed to start acting more rational in front of them. Perhaps they could be of some use...how, he wasn't sure. He needed them to do _something_ besides acting like babysitters though.

"Well, well, well," they all heard a snide deep voice from above them.

Turbo looked up, then _sat _up, when he saw someone else he hadn't seen in twenty-five years. It was Rocky, the avatar of _RoadBlasters, _alive and well with his bleach blonde buzz cut, gray eyes, and dark tanned skin. His bulked up muscles that showed even through his gray wife-beater proved that he was tough stuff, and when you're the star of a game that involves guns and bombs that was definitely a requirement. Rocky was flanked on each side by two of his many competitors, or rather enemies due to the nature of the game, these being known as Jud and Rud. They weren't twins, but they both rode motorcycles and usually hung out together.

"If it isn't the future has-been of the arcade," Rocky sneered down at Turbo, who immediately went back into a foul mood. "You found any new hobbies to keep you occupied while we tough guys run things around here? Like knitting? Checkers?"

His cronies snickered and the scowl on Turbo's face deepened, his brow lowering to where his eyes looked like angled slits of fury. Ted shrank back on the bench, biting his lip and keeping a hand tight on Turbo's suit as if to prevent him from possibly leaping up and fighting the larger man. His brother looked almost as put off as Turbo was.

"I'd hate for you to hurt yourself doing something extreme, since you're so used to driving around in your safe little circle all day with no one but these two losers beside you only trying to pass your car," Rocky continued to mock. "At least in my game there's some action and suspense. A real chance of dying other than crashing into a wall due to a clumsy player."

"Don't you have anything better to do?" Teddy questioned him in a firm manner, praying that Turbo wouldn't make things worse by saying anything.

Rocky snorted in amusement. "What's wrong Turd-butt, have to rely on your guard dog to defend you?"

Turbo's teeth were clenched and his nails, short as they were, were digging into the wooden bench seat. His breathing was fast and ragged, his nostrils flaring with each exhale, absolutely filled with rage. He'd forgotten how much he _hated_ this punk, the newbie that sped in and won the hearts of the gamers with his better graphics and gameplay. Every time they had crossed paths, Rocky would have a cruel remark to say to further drive home the fact that the only future _TurboTime_ had was _no_ future.

"Turbo, don't do anything stupid," Teddy was saying to him, however Turbo was only focusing on his rival.

"Why don't you come down here and say that to my face, Roxy?"

He heard the twins simultaneously hiss his name at him, Ted in fear and Teddy in a mix of concern and scolding him. Rocky flipped his head to each side of him to smirk at his lackeys, who only continued to chuckle darkly as they folded their arms across their chest and widened their stance. The avatar leaned down a good ways, bending at his knees to be at eye level with the shorter man, and whispered,

"Did I stutter? Turd-butt?"

Before either twin could stop him or even register what was going on, Turbo's fist had collided with Rocky's lip.


	7. Chapter 7

**The Path Not Taken**

Turbo was sure he felt a bone crack in his hand when it connected to Rocky's jaw. The other man's head reeled backwards from the unexpected force applied to his perfectly rugged face, some blood trickling from his bottom lip. The gray-skinned racer took advantage of Rocky's temporary disorientation and lunged for his throat, throwing his whole body into it to knock the larger man down before wrapping his small hands around his thick neck. He heard the twins behind him begging him to stop but he wasn't listening. He was too busy trying to choke the life out of his rival...his _replacement..._ignoring the growing pain in his surely broken hand

Jud swung into action and delivered a hard uppercut under Turbo's chin to knock him clean off of Rocky, the smaller man sent flying clumsily into the air and rolling against the tile floor of GCS. His sides hurt but Turbo didn't stay down long; no, he had a score to settle and he had just begun. Rud had snatched up the twins by their collars to prevent them from intervening, both of them trying to call out to him but he could not hear them anymore. Teeth bared, Turbo pulled himself off the floor just as Rocky was doing the same. The buff rival wiped his lip with his hand and observed the crimson liquid that was now there, his gray eyes getting stormier as he lifted them up to where Turbo was standing.

"You have just made the worst mistake of your life, lightbulb eyes," he stated darkly as he marched swiftly to his opponent.

"The only mistake I made is not doing this_ sooner,_" Turbo growled back, rage filling him as he blindly went back into the attack.

Rocky was more calculating a fighter though; he was used to serious rough-housing with his own men. When Turbo came at him, he simply grabbed him by the suit and flung him like a ragdoll to the side. Air whizzed past him and he crashed into a bench face-first, hard enough to topple it over with him flipping completely in a circle. The three _RoadBlasters'_ men hooted with mocking laughter as he tried to crawl himself over the side of the bench, the fiery spirit still burning in his eyes. Ted was crying and hiding his face behind his hands, too afraid to watch the disastrous spectacle, while Teddy kept trying to fight his way out of Rud's clutches so that he could help Turbo.

Turbo felt woozy from his injuries, his vision blurry and his legs like jelly as he tried to stand and make his way back to his enemy. He felt something wet on his face, sure it was blood, but from where he did not know. The cacophony of laughter swam in his ears and he felt nauseous from all his senses being altered this way. Rocky watched him with grim amusement as he tried to walk, having to keep a grip on certain surrounding obstacles in order to keep from falling.

"This is pathetic," he spat, running his hand through his hair. "You can't even hold your own against two attacks. What makes you think you can ever beat me at _anything?_"

Ted peeped his eyes out from behind his hands, gasping when he saw the large gash spread on Turbo's face. "Turbo, don't listen to him, you're going to get yourself killed!"

Rud sneered down at him and popped Ted in the back of the head to shut him up. To do this though, he had to release his hold on Teddy, who swiftly rammed his foot up into Rud's groin, causing him to let go of Ted also and fall onto his knees in pain. Teddy ran up behind Rocky and began to punch him repeatedly in his lower back area, which was the tallest that he could reach.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size!"

Rocky spun around and snatched Teddy up by his arms, his shoulders nearly becoming dislocated from the swift movement. His muscles and ligaments screamed in agony as he hung there in Rocky's grasp, who tossed him more in the air before catching him by the collar of his suit.

"You ashy rugrats are really starting to bug me," he growled, rearing his fist back and punching Teddy in the nose.

Teddy felt something crack in his face and he went flying backwards until he hit a large potted tree, too dizzy to move afterwards. His brother screamed for him and ran to him, holding his head in his lap to try to keep him from attempting to get up just yet. He removed Teddy's helmet, petting his head to give him a sense of comfort, tears flowing freely from his eyes. Why wouldn't anyone help them? Everyone in the GCS had either stopped to watch from a distance or wisely avoided the thing altogether. Didn't they understand that they could possibly die from this? Did anyone care?

Turbo's foggy vision and his slightly impaired hearing told him that something had happened to one of the twins, Teddy if he had to guess, and something entirely new snapped in him. Nobody messed with the twins except _him_.

"Hey, Roxy, leave them alone!" he wailed out, tasting the metallic taste of the blood that was steady running down his face and into his own mouth. "You want me, so come get me!"

Rocky motioned for his boys to come beside him, the three of them a formidable foe when together. Any one of them could easily kill him on his own, ripping his head clean off his shoulders if they wished. Hate and bitter rage continued to well up inside Turbo's soul, finally having made it to about two feet in front of where Rocky was standing, finding it harder to breathe the more he moved.

"You're just asking for a whoopin', ain't ya?" Jud snickered, cracking his knuckles.

Turbo's earlier yell had taken much of his strength, his voice now cracking weakly. "Leave...them...alone," he repeated to them, still foolishly maintaining his stubborn streak.

"Well, then," Rocky chortled deeply. "Guess we'll just let you be our personal punching bag then, since you're so willing to be a martyr."

The three of them snickered but Turbo wasn't going to move now. He wasn't about to show cowardice to these three; they'd never let him hear the end of it. The great Turbo, scared of a trio of newbies because they slapped him around some. He wasn't about to have that skeleton hanging in his closet, not if he was seriously wanting to start a new path in life...whatever that may be.

If he even _had_ a life after this.

"Say your prayers, has-been," sneered Rocky as he prepared to launch another punch.

Turbo braced himself but the punch never came. Like a flash, Ted was in front of him, holding his arms out as if to keep Rocky from approaching Turbo anymore. He was obviously terrified but there he stood anyway.

"L-leave him alone!" he stuttered out, his knees shaking underneath him. "You're bigger than he is, you m-might kill him!"

The three men cackled at him, making Ted feel rather foolish but he still stood there like a living shield. Turbo glared at the back of his helmet and then grabbed him by the shoulder with the hand that wasn't broken.

"What are you doing?" he hissed at him by his ear.

Ted looked behind just enough to see him out of the corner of his eye. "Turbo, I know you might not care about anyone or even yourself, but _I _care and Teddy cares. We're not gonna sit by and watch you dig your own grave."

Turbo didn't have a response to that, only continued to stare at him and breathe painfully, releasing the other's shoulder and using it to press his side where he was sure he had cracked some ribs. He dropped his eyes to the ground and tried to calm himself, wincing with every breath he took.

Rocky spat to the side. "All right, ladies, kissy time is over. I'll let you freaks off this time but_ next_ time-" He leaned in close to Ted's face, who leaned back slightly in fear. "Next time, you won't have to wait until Litwak pulls your plug to die, because I'll take care of that for you."

He cocked his head to the side to signal to his goons to follow him elsewhere, leaving the _TurboTime_ trio on their own. Teddy had begun to stir and was now sitting up with his hand pressed against his face. Turbo felt more lightheaded than before, finding it more difficult to stand. He ended up collapsing onto his knees and Ted turned to try holding him up in his arms.

"Turbo! Turbo, are you all right!" he was screaming at him. "TURBO!"

_What have I done now?_ Turbo pondered as he felt himself drift away. _What's going to happen to me later?_

His yellow eyes dimmed before he closed them completely, passing out in Ted's arms.


	8. Chapter 8

_Sorry if this one seems boring, as Turbo remains unconscious for the most part._

* * *

**The Path Not Taken**

Ted's suit was getting smeared with blood as he tried to hold up Turbo, who was growing progressively heavier as the seconds passed. He turned his head towards Teddy, who was still leaning against the potted tree and pressing his hand against his face as if in extreme agony. Anxiety welled up in Ted as he scrambled to figure out what to do. He couldn't take care of both of them and he certainly couldn't leave them there unsupervised while he went to get help. He was afraid that Rocky and his thugs would return if he left them alone and he didn't even want to think about how that scenario would play out.

Felix, he needed to get Felix! He could heal them both up real quick with that magic hammer of his. Ted deduced he might have gone into _Tapper'_s to search for Ralph if what Turbo had said to him had had any effect on him. The problem, however, was he still couldn't very well leave his colleagues while he went to hunt him down. Ted felt a lump in his throat and he began lowering himself and Turbo down to the floor gently, not wanting to drop the injured avatar and hurting him further.

"T-Turbo, please, wake up," he begged him, patting his cheek a few times, hoping that would do the trick.

The star racer groaned softly but made no moves, continuing to lay there with his head slightly tilted to the side of him, his blood dripping off of him onto the tile floor. At least he was still alive; otherwise he would have disintegrated into straight binary code before flickering completely out of existence forever.

"I'll watch them for you," he heard a sweet feminine voice offer from above him.

Ted tilted his head upwards and saw the little cheerleader girl that he and Teddy and seen trying to talk to Turbo earlier. She had long pretty red hair in a high ponytail and big green eyes that read of concern.

"Oh thank you," he sighed in relief, finally allowing himself to stand up. He looked down at the blood on his suit and felt a wave of nausea hit him, but he swallowed it down.

"Just don't let either of them make any sudden moves 'til I get back," he told the girl, backing up in the direction of _Tapper_'s. "That is, if he wakes up at all."

He took off running, not caring about any strange looks he might have been receiving. Tears blinded him as he ran, trying to purge any dark thoughts from his mind that either of them might die before he got back. The train to the inside of _Tapper_'s couldn't go fast enough and he leaped off of it before it had even come to a full stop.

* * *

Felix felt rather elated after only his second helping of root beer, not used to engaging in this particular social activity. Everything seemed to be funny all of a sudden, including Tapper's mustache for some reason. His newfound friend, Ralph, still sat beside him and was giving him an expression of worried amusement.

"You sure you can handle it, Felix?"

The boyish handyman gave him an exaggerated grin, his blue eyes blinking hard at him as if to focus on who he was talking to. Much to Ralph's surprise, he suddenly snorted in laughter and threw a punch at the wrecker's large bicep.

"Oh, Ralphie, don't you have faith in your ol' pal?" he laughed gleefully in his stool, rocking back dangerously enough to prompt Ralph to hold his palm out behind him just in case he fell off.

"Note to self," Ralph said out loud, rubbing his eyes with his other hand. "Never give Felix anything that has the smallest pinch of sugar or caffeine in it."

At that moment, everyone heard the panicked cry of someone screaming Felix's name and a few people had to move out of the way as a blood-stained Ted shoved his way through the bar. Ralph's brow perked up at the sight of the wee racer, whom he had perhaps shared a few words with in passing.

"Felix, you have to help!" he was panting, completely out of breath and shaking with fright, his big eyes nearly bulged out of his head in his distress. "The _RoadBlasters_ guys beat my brother and Turbo up into pulps and they might die!"

Felix stayed silent for a few moments, staring stupidly at Ted before going into another wave of giggles. Ted was taken aback by this odd behavior and looked up Ralph, who only shrugged and said,

"Root beer."

Ted looked as if he were going to go into another panic attack and Ralph realized he was going to have to be in charge of this, whether he wanted to or not. It wasn't that he disliked Turbo, it was just that he had never had a reason to _like _him either. They lived completely opposite lives, never having had a reason to even say a quick hello to each other. Litwak's little star was too busy living the dream, addicted to his status as Big Man on Campus and strutting about like he owned the place. Heck, maybe in some ways he _did _own the place. Ralph would have rather stayed hidden in the shadows where people couldn't see him to bully him about his "bad guy" role, never knowing what the taste of victory felt like or what it even felt like to have people idolize him.

However, these two in front of him apparently couldn't be counted on to keep things under control. Ralph sighed heavily, reluctantly getting involved in this mess, and picked the still giggling Felix up by the back of his shirt, and then cradling him in one arm to carry him out of the bar.

"All right, let's go save Mr. Popularity," the wrecker muttered under his breath.

Just because he was a "bad guy", didn't mean he was a bad guy after all.

* * *

The pastel pink-and-yellow themed cheerleader pulled a handkerchief out from under her long-sleeve tee, going first over to where Teddy was still propped up and handed it to him.

"Press it gently to stop the bleeding," she instructed him, making sure he did so before turning her attention back to the unconscious member of the trio.

Turbo still hadn't moved much but his breathing had grown into wheezes, his face slightly contorted in a painful grimace. How much of his surroundings he was aware of, the girl did not know. Frowning a bit, she pulled another hanky out and gently dabbed at the nasty cut on his face. He jerked at the touch and she drew her hand back for a moment before making herself keep doing it.

"That was kind of stupid, punching that guy," she said out loud, not sure if he even heard her. "You're lucky he didn't kill you in one blow."

The racer groaned softly as she resumed wiping his face off until her handkerchief was too blood-soaked to do any more good. The slight smell of a flowery perfume filled his nose and he inhaled just enough of it to mentally perk up a tad.

The girl turned her head in the direction of _Tapper_'s to see if the other racer was coming with help yet. Not seeing anyone, she stayed crouched on the floor by Turbo who was still not making much effort to show signs of full consciousness. She wasn't sure what it was about this guy, whom she had never talked to before until today, but he seemed the sort that needed cheering up and, since that was her job description, she had decided to talk to him earlier. There was something almost peculiar about him, not because of his looks or anything, but he seemed to be shrouded in this cloak of mystery, like there was more to him that met the eye.

Or maybe her hyperactive teenage mind just liked to imagine things.

"Then again, I don't know many people that would be brave enough to attack someone four or five times their size," she continued, hoping she didn't look like an idiot sitting there talking to herself.

Turbo could hear someone talking, the voice sounding vaguely familiar but he couldn't place it. Whoever it was sounded nice and gentle, someone that he didn't have to worry about punching him in the face. The dense tangle of mental sludge gradually rolled away from him like a wave of molasses as he fought to wake himself up. A twinge of pain shot through him and he immediately wished to go back to sleep.

"He _was_ being a jerk, so I guess he did deserve it." The cheerleader sighed lightly and folded her arms across her chest. "I thought being a popular guy would be more fun, but you don't seem to be having a good day, what with you dealing with a supposed identity crisis and then having someone mop the floor with you."

Turbo groaned again and finally cracked his eyes open just enough to make out a fuzzy outline of someone next to him. He forced his eyes up painfully and saw what looked to be some angelic being with reddish hair and emerald eyes gazing down at him. Their eyes met for a brief moment before he shut them again, resting his head back down on the floor and slipping back into unconsciousness.

She turned her head again and finally saw the other racer with two other fellows that she believed were from the _Fix-It Felix, Jr._ game located a few spaces down from her own game, _Slam Dunk! _

"I'm gonna go now, okay?" she told Turbo quietly, getting up and straightening her skirt. "Don't get into any more fights."

* * *

Ted hadn't been exaggerating; the two racers were a bloody mess, though which one was worse off Ralph couldn't tell right away. After another second of surveying the scene, he reasoned Turbo was arguably worse seeing as how he wasn't even moving.

"Don't worry, I can fix it!" Felix assured everyone, still giddy from his caffeine rush, as his antagonist placed him down next to where Teddy was trying to control his nosebleed.

He tapped the injured twin on the face, who felt immediate relief soon afterwards yet he still felt rather weak. Ted practically dragged Felix over to where Turbo was laying on the floor and he made a grimace at the amount of blood that had pooled onto the floor by his head.

"My lands, he really got into a pickle," he mused, trying to keep from laughing at the serious situation. He never knew root beer could have quite this effect on him.

He healed Turbo as well though the hammer's limitations would not cure the unconscious state of his being. His face went back to normal and his breathing grew a lot smoother than before, his features relaxing even in his slumber to signify he wasn't hurting anymore.

Teddy stumbled a few steps and Ralph kept an eye on him to make sure he was fine. He wasn't sure what his name was, heck, he couldn't even tell the two apart but he felt that he needed to say something.

"What happened exactly?" he wanted to know out of sheer curiosity.

"Rocky from _RoadBlasters_ started talking smack in Turbo's face," Teddy grumbled, rubbing his nose to make sure it had been healed correctly. "So he punched him and then…well, I think you can figure out what happened."

"Thank you, Felix," Ted told the handyman tearfully, trying to calm down now that everything was considerably better than before and no one was going to die of blood loss. "I just wish he'd wake up."

Felix couldn't contain his giggle anymore, having bit his lip so hard that he thought it would begin bleeding as well. "He could probably use a nap after that beating anyway!"

Ted gave him a shocked yet horrified look as the normally put-together superintendent laughed at his own lame joke, and then glanced over to Ralph. The wrecker rolled his eyes and rubbed his forehead in embarrassment, telling himself again that Felix was never drinking root beer again. He secretly hoped that he'd settle down before going home because he didn't want the other Nicelanders blaming him for "corrupting" their hero.

"Ooooo-kay!" Ralph drew out in exaggeration, plucking Felix up again in his large hand. "We best be getting on home, fellas, it's been…" He paused a second to choose his words, his other hand rotating slowly as he thought. "Well, not _fun_ but…uh, see ya around!"

Ted darted his eyes over at Turbo again before trotting over to his brother. "How are we going to get him home?"

The other groaned in annoyance. "I guess we'll have to carry him."


	9. Chapter 9

**The Path Not Taken**

Ralph groaned inwardly when he saw Gene approach, the blocky square of a man with his signature scowl marking his features. The wrecker had known it was going to be bad if he arrived back home with Felix still acting out of sorts. Thankfully, during the train ride back home, he _had_ stopped laughing at random things and had started nodding off instead. He supposed the sugar rush from earlier had finally worn out its welcome.

"What have you done to him!" Gene angrily began to shout, throwing his arms forward in their direction. "Put him down this instant!"

Ralph gently picked Felix up from his cradled position in his other arm and stood him back down on his feet where he swayed just a hair. Gene immediately put an arm around his back and threw one of Felix's arms over his shoulder to support him.

"You're really something, Ralph!" Gene continued with an accusatory tone, his beady eyes glaring coldly into Ralph's. "I never thought you'd do something to jeopardize our game by getting Felix knocked off his socks like this!"

"Are you kidding me?" Ralph argued back, feeling anger rise in him and his fists clenching at his sides. "I didn't force him to do anything!"

Gene spit in his direction. "Yeah, I bet! Felix wouldn't dare pull a stunt like this without someone coercing him to do so. You should be ashamed of yourself, Ralph, taking advantage of his naivety like this."

He started jerking Felix towards the entrance to the Niceland penthouse, leaving Ralph behind feeling the need to punch the entire game into one big heap of junk. He should've known it was a bad idea to buddy up with Felix. Only bad things happen when "bad guys" try to be good. He felt a twinge of regret that this new buddy thing hadn't had time to get its wings yet; at least Felix had _tried_. Ralph turned back around and headed back to the train. He needed another root beer...alone this time.

"G-Gene?" Felix started to say as he attempted to stay awake. He wasn't sure what happened to the rush from earlier but now he just wanted to lay down. "Ralph was t-telling the truth."

The martini-guzzling Nicelander rolled his eyes and scoffed loudly. "Felix, stop being ridiculous. Ralph is a _bad guy_. If you hang out with him, only _bad_ things will happen. Like you getting buzzed on root beer. You know you can't handle that stuff."

He sighed and shook his head before continuing. "Just stick with me and the others and we'll make sure you're fine. Just like we always do. Everything we do is in your best interest. Don't forget that."

The last thing Felix thought before he couldn't remember anything else was that he sometimes got tired of the Nicelanders babysitting him.

* * *

When Turbo awoke, the first thing he noticed was that he wasn't laying on the cold hard floor of the GCS anymore. The second thing was that he wasn't hurting though he still felt slightly nauseated. He cracked his eyes open and saw that he was back in his _TurboTime_ bedroom, laying on his side on top of his comforter. Stretching his arm out in front of him, he flexed the fingers of the hand that was once broken and now was pieced back together again.

_Felix_.

He rolled over onto his back to stare up at his ceiling and realized his helmet was no longer on his head. This made him sit up too quickly and he grabbed the back of his skull as a wave of dizziness passed over him, his eyes shut tight and his teeth clenched as he settled back down. So much for that magic hammer curing _everything_. He could barely remember anything after passing out. A few voices floated around in his mind but he couldn't decipher who was saying what. He seemed to recall opening his eyes at one point and seeing someone but the memory would shatter every time he tried to hone in on it.

"Your helmet's on your nightstand."

He jerked when he heard Teddy's unexpected voice coming from somewhere in the dark corner of the room and he peeked his eyes open to see his co-racer walking slowly towards him, spinning a chair around backwards so he could sit in it.

"Ted and I've been taking turns waiting for you to wake up," he explained casually, crossing his arms and giving off a general look of solemnity. "I was hoping I'd be the one to be here when you came to because I wanted to talk about what happened."

"Well, you got your wish," Turbo grunted as he rubbed at his face, noticing that he was also cured in that area as well.

He felt a pressing need to thank the little hammer-wielding twerp, the feeling akin to someone twisting his arm to the point of dislocation. Why had he even agreed to heal him, after being the recipient of Turbo's wrath earlier? Was he really _that_ nice of a guy?

Teddy's eyes lowered angrily. "You think this is some kind of game?"

Turbo glanced around at their surroundings. "Is that a trick question?"

The other scoffed and turned his head away to mutter something then turned his attention back to his avatar. "What were you thinking, starting a fight with Rocky? Were you thinking _at all_?"

Turbo scowled and looked away towards his window, the stadium being barely visible from his position on the bed. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Too bad, we're going to," Teddy insisted acidly, leaning forward some in his chair. "You realize that either of those guys could have killed you right? One snap-"he snapped his fingers-"and you would've been a goner."

The white-clad star rolled back over onto his side away from Teddy, not caring to take part in this conversation.

"Are you listening to me?" Teddy growled impatiently. "Don't you understand that without you, we have no game? If you die, you seal the rest of our fates by getting us unplugged. That's what sucks about being an NPC; mine and Ted's livelihood literally depend on _you_."

Turbo curled his arms up to his chest, trying to shut his words out yet he could not. He started thinking about how they had died after his game-jumping into _RoadBlasters_, how his selfish actions had not only killed his rivals but also the people that were supposed to be on his side.

_His family_.

"Shut up."

"No, I won't! I know you're upset about_ RoadBlasters_, heck I am too sometimes," Teddy confessed to him. "We're all three in this together, you know, it's not just your problem to deal with. Ted and I don't want to be homeless either, but Litwak hasn't even mentioned anything about letting our game go yet."

"Not that we've heard anyway."

"That's still no reason for you to go around getting into fights and purposely trying to get yourself into dangerous situations!" Teddy was shaking now, all his emotions coming out. "Everything you do affects the rest of us, and we all could have easily either gotten killed today because you popped off at someone that got under your skin! You have _got _to pull yourself together, Turbs!"

"I'm sorry, okay!" Turbo shouted at him, covering his face with his hand. He scared himself when he felt tears there, confused as to what was happening to him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you two to get hurt!"

Teddy stopped talking and blinked in shock a few times when he heard the other man's light sobs; he'd never heard Turbo cry before in their entire existence and it was admittedly unnerving. Of course, he had no idea that Turbo was apologizing for getting them killed in another life and not for what had happened out in the GCS today, but the fact that he was apologizing was a shocker in itself.

"I was…I just don't want to be forgotten," the distressed racer was saying as he tried to get himself under control. This was so embarrassing, letting someone see him like this. "I can't handle not having any attention. I felt so _useless_ when those kids quit playing the game before it even finished. They _forgot_ about me. What if everyone else does, too?"

Teddy sat silent again for a while, not entirely sure what to say. Turbo wiped his eyes, feeling like a complete wuss for letting his emotions get the best of him.

"You think that if the gamers don't love you, then no one else will?" Teddy asked him slowly to make sure he understood him correctly.

The only answer he gave was a slow nod, and Turbo curled himself up into a ball. He couldn't deal with losing _TurboTime_ again, he couldn't bear facing another lifetime of not being used for what he was created for: racing. He had to race, he had to _win_. He was the best…things like this weren't supposed to happen to the best. That's why he'd done everything in his power to secure his royal status in _Sugar Rush_. It had been such a thrill being on the roster every day, being chosen by gamers. Even if they didn't choose him, he was still able to race due to the game's setup, still being used in some way for the good of the game.

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt someone sit behind him on the bed. He knew it had to be Teddy as no one else was in the room and he hid his tear-stained face against the bed's comforter.

"Leave me alone," he croaked out, his voice embarrassingly hoarse now.

"Turbs," Teddy said quietly, grabbing his colleague's shoulder to squeeze. "No one hates you, okay? Don't even think that anymore. Even if we do end up homeless, Ted and I are still going to love you because you're family. You hear me?"

Turbo kept his eyes shut, his hands creeping up to hide his face even though he was facing away from the other man. This whole day had been one disaster after another. To think, just a few mere hours ago he had been the king of _Sugar Rush_. Now he was laying here in 1987 acting like a pansy because Rocky had thrown him around and because he admittedly felt bad about being responsible for the twins' deaths. They weren't even dead anymore, why was he acting so upset about it?

Teddy sighed when he didn't receive an answer. He patted him a couple times on the back before Turbo felt him get up off the bed, the mattress rising slightly due to the extra weight being taken off of it.

"Get some sleep, all right?" he said in a gentle voice. "You'll feel better when you wake up."

_When I wake up_, Turbo mused to himself. _What's tomorrow going to bring? Is Rocky going to come after me now? He didn't before but I also never started a brawl with him either. What WAS I thinking?  
_

He felt it more imperative than ever to get his hands on the Universal Code now. It might wind up being a matter of life or death this time around.

"Arcade opens tomorrow," Teddy felt he needed to remind him as he pulled the bedroom door open to exit. "Maybe some racing will clear your head."

_Race_. Turbo's eyes opened at the realization. He was going to get to race in_ TurboTime_ again. Somehow, that alone made this whole crazy time-travel trip worth the trouble.


	10. Chapter 10

_Again, thanks to everyone that has reviewed, fave'd and followed so far! Thanks for being patient, guys, love ya!_

* * *

**The Path Not Taken**

When the Quarter Alert sounded, Turbo took his place at the starting line in his car, lined up evenly next to the twins'. The whole situation seemed surreal to him at first, almost dream-like, being back in his original setting getting prepared for a round of gameplay on the old yellow track. At the same time, it was rather soothing and peaceful to his inner being. This was where he was meant to be, he knew that, and being back here seemed to make the entirety of his inner code relax somewhat. He didn't have to worry about dying in a crash here, even though in _Sugar Rush_ it was impossible to die in the race as that would have been too tragic for the kids to see; no one wanted to see a cute little candy-themed child get killed in a fiery crash, you know.

The twins both flashed him a thumbs up, the two of them secretly hoping that a day at work would help put Turbo's mind at ease and help him forget about yesterday's drama. So far, he seemed to be in decent spirits and hopefully he would stay that way.

Turbo felt the player take control of him, always an odd feeling akin to an out-of-body experience or being spiritually possessed by an outside force, but he naturally let the phenomenon take place. Being in control by someone else was completely different from racing on his own terms, like he did after-hours or when he had been simply another competitor during Sugar Rush's gameplay during the races in which he hadn't been chosen as the playable avatar. This particular kid had played _TurboTime_ plenty of times in the past and he quickly had Turbo being in first place.

Turbo had forgotten just how simple this track was: an oval-shaped construction in which you only made left-hand turns on. It was such a stark contrast to the more complicated ones in Sugar Rush; all of those winded around obstacles, went through various environments, had _weapons_ to use on your competitors, an overall more difficult world altogether. The sense of danger was always imminent and somehow that made the adrenaline rush come faster and the drive to win greater.

At the same time, it was nice _always_ being the one driver that the gamer played as. In _TurboTime_, he was the sole avatar so the gamer had no choice but to play as him. It gave him elated sense of belonging, of being _wanted_, of being _loved_. In _Sugar Rush_, he had taken it to heart if he didn't get chosen, the gamers passing him up for one of the cute little children. He'd had to share the spotlight, even with his royal status, and he felt generally ignored during those gameplay sessions.

Here at _home_ however...ah, it felt so nice to see those kids' faces when they stepped in front of the screen because they wanted to play _his_ game. They came by _TurboTime_ to play as _him_. With _Sugar Rush_...they had come because they liked the uniqueness of the candy theme. They hadn't dropped in because of any particular racer, they were drawn in by the graphics and the overall feel of the game.

He was the champ here, the reigning supreme racer. He had forgotten what a rush it was to physically walk to the awards podium, towering over his losing co-racers, and holding his trophy up high, yelling out his catchphrase, "Turbo-Tastic!". It felt nice being himself for a change, having attention thrown at _him_, not "King Candy".

However...

His spot on the podium just happened to be at the perfect height for him to see past the gamer's triumphant face and see _RoadBlasters_' cabinet. Turbo would continue his winning smile for the sake of the game but deep down he felt a sick feeling in his stomach every time he saw that other game.

He might be having fun now, reliving his glory days as star avatar again and racing against the twins, but the fact remained that eventually _TurboTime_ was going to disappear. It was going to get unplugged thanks to that rival game and he knew that he still had to find a way to fix his life. He still had a chance to set himself up for the future.

So it was decided that after work, he was going to go into_ Tapper's,_ hopefully get his hands on that napkin, and figure out where to go from there. He only hoped that he would make the right choice this time.

* * *

Felix awoke much like he did every other morning; bright-eyed and ready for a full day of fixing the penthouse over and over. However, he did not feel particularly joyful about his daily task. Every time he stole a glance over at Ralph, the wrecker almost seemed to be avoiding his gaze. If Felix didn't know better, he'd say he thought that Ralph was _trying_ to hit him with the bricks on purpose. Of course, that was the purpose of the game, but there was something different about it this time. Something...personal.

After they had finally received a break from playing for a short time, Felix decided to ask if anything was wrong. Bouncing up to his antagonist, who had just finished cleaning off the mud from his clothes, he stopped in front of him and asked,

"Hey, Ralph, is...is everything okay?"

The piercing glare that he received as a response made the little handyman shrink back considerably.

"Yeah," Ralph answered him in a dark sarcastic tone. "Yeah, everything's _great_. I love getting thrown in the mud, you know? Great for the pores."

His eyes moved over to something behind Felix and he just as quickly moved them away, reaching a hand up to rub at the back of his neck. Curious, Felix looked behind him only to see Gene standing near the entrance of the penthouse, his arms crossed and giving Ralph what looked to be a warning glare.

"Might not be a great idea to talk to me anymore," Ralph muttered under his breath. "Wouldn't want to be responsible for anything _bad_ happening to you."

Felix's gut felt like a giant rock had been thrown into it and before he could say anything, the larger man had shuffled past him to head for his stump to rest until the next session of gaming. Felix could only scratch his head, not really remembering too much of last night to know what had taken place when he arrived home.

Gene came over to him, briskly walking in his usual blocky manner of moving, and grabbed Felix by the wrist to pull him along back to the penthouse.

"I told you, Felix, that guy doesn't want friends," he was telling him in an insistent voice. "He just wants to be left alone and sulk in that pitiful stump of his. I say respect his wishes and let him be."

Felix sighed and reluctantly tagged along, hanging his head. "I dunno, Gene, I just don't see how that's right. No one wants to be alone. He certainly seemed okay with me joining him in _Tapper's_ last night."

Upon hearing this, Gene dropped Felix's hand and stared at him in disbelief. "Felix, why in the name of Litwak would you ever think of going in there? You know you can't handle all that sugar and caffeine. Why do you think we make you sugar-free pies?"

"Well, I do appreciate you guys lookin' out for me and all-"

"Furthermore, getting back to the root of the matter, good guys and bad guys simply do not mix!" Gene was wildly throwing his hands around while he talked, at least the best that he could do what with his limited motions.

"I mean, what would people think if heroes and villains suddenly started being best friends, huh? How would that affect our _game_? If you guys become _buddies-" _He used air quotes around that particular word-"you wouldn't want to do anything to hurt or defeat each other. The game would grow stale and boring, then no one would want to play us."

Felix was wringing his hat in his hands as he stood there getting lectured. The other Nicelanders were peeking their faces out of their windows when they heard Gene yelling outside and quite frankly Felix was getting embarrassed.

"I understand that, I really do, but-"

"Felix, I don't think I have to remind you what would happen if this game lost its players, do I?" Gene asked him darkly, glaring up at him deep in his eyes. "Do I?"

The handyman gulped, wanting to look away but could not. He didn't need to be told the answer; everyone knew what happened when your game didn't draw players anymore.

"N-n-no..."

Gene nodded once, still keeping his eyes locked into Felix's blue ones. "Good. So I hope you forget about this crazy _buddy_ idea that you have in your head about you and Ralph. Right?"

Felix hated being put on the spot, his cheeks now ablaze with fierce honeyglows and his stomach feeling rather nauseated. Instead of answering, he twiddled his fingers in front of him and cast his eyes down to the ground. Gene took that to mean that he understood him and patted him on the shoulder.

"Just stick to the program, Felix. And with _us_," he told him, waving his hand out towards all the other Nicelanders. "It's all for the good of the game."

Was it? Was it really all for the good of the game? Felix wasn't so sure now.


	11. Chapter 11

_Phew! Be prepared, guys, this one's a doozy. Might be another week before I spit out another one. Thinkin' I might have to bump the rating up to **T** because I'm paranoid. _

* * *

**The Path Not Taken**

"Turbo seemed pretty happy today, huh?"

Teddy smiled over at his brother as they grabbed some water from their ice chest to cool down with. Litwak had just closed up the store about ten minutes ago and everyone was exhausted from the full day.

"Yeah, he seemed in a much better mood than yesterday, that's for sure," Teddy had to agree, gazing out to where Turbo was busy giving the car a quick rinse with the waterhose attached to the side of the stadium.

Ted nodded and stared at the ground for a bit before Turbo walked up to them. He was swinging his arms back and forth almost nervously then forced himself to stop, a forced smile plastered to his face and his eyes bearing resemblance to that of an animal ready to bolt from his pursuer.

"Hey, fellas!" he greeted them in an overly cheerful manner, which prompted the twins to briefly glance at each other. "I think I'm gonna go grab a cold one over at _Tapper's_, if you guys wanted to tag along."

Ted grinned at the invitation and replied, "Sure, we'd-"

"Nah, we're cool, Turbs," Teddy interrupted him suddenly by grabbing his brother by the shoulder to hush him, wearing a casual lop-sided smile. "I think I'm runnin' a little low on oil so I'm gonna check that out, right, Ted?"

He patted his confused twin on the back who could only nod numbly in response. Turbo, still trying to act normal, shrugged and said,

"All right, your loss. Catch ya later."

With that, he turned back and jogged to his car, speeding off out of sight and out of the game entirely. Ted gave his brother an odd look once the coast was clear.

"What was that for?" he asked him as he followed him to the garage to grab an oilcan. "We always go out for root beer after work!"

"He's up to something," Teddy responded nonchalantly and his brother's eyes got big. "Didn't you notice he was acting antsy? We'll show up later and see what it is he's gotten himself into."

Ted scratched under his chin. "Wouldn't it make more sense to _stop _him from getting into trouble?"

"If we stop him, we won't know what it is he's up to."

* * *

Turbo exhaled sharply once he had turned his back from the twins, hoping he had managed to repeat his performance that he had done twenty-five years ago. He remembered asking them if they'd wanted to come down to_ Tapper's_ with him for a drink but that they couldn't go for some reason. He wasn't sure if it was for the same reason that Teddy had stated but the point was that he had gotten away from them without them following him. If he had just simply gone off without inviting them, he would have garnered suspicion in them and they for sure would have shown up and possibly ruined everything.

A nervous wave of energy rode into him as he drove towards the exit. Would the napkin still be there, laying on the counter as if having been placed there carelessly as if destiny had required it to be, all his for the taking? What would he do when he got it? Before, he hadn't known what it was until _after_ game-jumping into _Roadblasters_...now that he was starting over, he wasn't sure what to do exactly.

Ah, well, he'd have plenty of time to think it over. No need getting in a hurry when you're gambling with your future.

And so off to _Tapper's_ he went, nerves taking over him as he walked casually through the entrance of the bar and looked around at the few people that had already dropped in. Would the napkin be there? Maybe he had come in too early? Or too late? Maybe something had happened to the person that possessed it before and he would never lay eyes on it again.

Swallowing down the nauseated feeling he was getting, he walked forward. It was like walking into a tunnel, the intense deja vu overwhelming his senses. His fingers itched with anticipation and he finally relaxed once he occupied the very stool that he had sat in twenty-five years ago. Tapper was busy filling up orders for Ken and Ryu so he hadn't noticed him come in yet.

Turbo glanced around anxiously, drumming his fingers on the counter. A pile of napkins that had been scattered about was situated just to the left of him within arm's reach. Sweat seemed to be coming out of every pore in his body, his helmet becoming an incubator for his head and he resisted the urge to remove it to wipe his brow properly. His heart felt as if it were literally ramming itself into his throat, trying to choke him. His fingers twitched and finally he couldn't stand it any longer. He darted his arm out towards the napkin pile, crazily worrying that someone knew that he was up to something by being here, that his visit to _Tapper's _had a more sinister undertone to it.

Sliding the pile in front of him and taking one more cautionary look around the room, Turbo breathed in and picked up the napkin that was on top of the messy pile.

**Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start**

Turbo's face stretched out into one of joyous glee, everyone of his teeth showing. Relief washed into him as well as the familiar sense of control and power. The nagging concern that someone else would have gotten it escaped his mind completely, his hands shaking in trepidation as he viewed his prize.

He'd done it! He'd managed to get his hands on the Universal Code!

To keep from causing a scene right in the middle of _Tapper's_, he abandoned his position at the bar before Tapper could ever get around to asking him if he wanted a drink or not and stole away into the hallway of the game. His grin never fading, his eyes twinkled as he kept them glued to the code and then gave it an overdue kiss.

"Daddy missed you," he whispered to it as he held it out to admire it for a bit.

"Whatcha got there, has-been?"

_Oh no_.

Dread and an overall sense of uneasiness swept into Turbo again as he heard the familiar voice of Rocky behind him. He immediately clutched the napkin to his chest and turned his head to warily look at the buff man who was flanked once more by Jud and Rud.

What were they doing here? This hadn't happened this first time...

Oh...

He had never angered them either by causing a fist fight out in the GCS either. They had never had a reason to stalk him before but now they did. He hadn't even noticed them inside _Tapper's_ though. Slowly he tucked the code inside his suit where he had a small hidden pocket, where he had always kept the napkin before.

Rocky cocked a grin at the smaller racer. "You deaf, lemon eyes? I asked what you got there? You don't want to play show and tell with Rocky?"

This wasn't good and Turbo knew it. If Rocky got his hands on this napkin, he might as well kiss _TurboTime_ goodbye right now. Heck, he might have to kiss his _life_ goodbye; there was no telling what a guy like him would do with the code.

He knew another fight wouldn't solve anything except maybe end his life _quicker_ so he chose the second option: _run_.

Turbo bolted ahead of the vengeful trio, only to find himself yanked backwards by the scruff of his suit, resulting in him briefly choking on it. A sharp flick of Rocky's wrist made him fly over to the side, crashing into various cleaning items that made up the interior of the washroom. Turbo barely had time to process that he was trapped in a small room before Rocky's large frame loomed over him, a chilling smirk playing at his lips.

"I'm hurt, ashtray skin. I ask you nicely to show me what you have and you run away."

Scrambling backwards into the mess of Wet Floor signs and mopping buckets, Turbo already knew his actions were futile. Rocky slammed the door shut, leaving his lackeys to guard it outside, and he reached down to snatch the older racer up by the chest part of his suit. Turbo gritted his teeth when he was suddenly forced against the wall, sharp shooting pain surging down his back.

Rocky only had to use one hand to hold Turbo up with and the latter went into panic mode when the RoadBlasters' avatar unzipped his suit just enough to reach in and grab at where he had taken the napkin. This insane invasion of privacy forced him to go back into self-defense mode and he promptly bit him hard on the wrist. Not missing a beat, Rocky backslapped him across the face to daze him.

"Worthless little bug!"

He succeeded in removing the napkin from its owner and jamming it in his jeans pocket to view later. Still keeping Turbo held up against the wall, he rammed his fist into his stomach to make him lose his breath. Gasping for air, Turbo stopped struggling and his attacker let him fall carelessly to the floor in a heap.

_He's got the code!_ the defeated racer panicked mentally as he tried to breathe. _This is a nightmare, this can't be happening right now! _

"Now that you're cooperating," he heard Rocky snidely tell him. "Let's see what this big secret is of yours."

Turbo grabbed at one of his rival's boots, trying to crawl himself up into a sitting position.

"No...don't..."

His face was greeted by a boot slamming into him and he reeled backwards. Clutching his face, Turbo groaned in pain and shrank back as Rocky continued his little chore.

"What the heck is this?" he heard him ask, befuddlement evident in his tone. "Bunch of arrows and letters?"

Turbo found himself picked back up by his neck since his suit was still partially unzipped and he cracked his eyes open to see Rocky's piercing into his. The other man tapped his sore face with the napkin mockingly.

"What is this? Tell me and I might not kill you."

_This is madness. My life is spiralling into a descent of madness._

Something snapped in him and Turbo started laughing softly in spite of his dire situation. Rocky's brow cocked upwards at the unexpected reaction and then lowered it back down angrily. His grip tightened around Turbo's neck and the choking sensation made him quit laughing.

"I said _tell me, _you ugly little freak!"

Coughing his words out, Turbo painfully answered him, "Why do you want to know so bad?"

"Because if its yours and it's that important, I want to know what it is," was the simple answer he received. "Now..._tell me_."

Turbo started chuckling again. "What, the pretty boy can't figure it out on his own?"

He was gifted with a sharp punch to the face for that and he was dropped down to the floor again, writhing himself into a ball to protect himself. Rocky stayed silent as he watched over his victim and then trailed his eyes back to the napkin, studying the strange inscription carefully.

"It's a combination, isn't it?"

Turbo's eyes popped open in horror and he stared up at Rocky, who was now sneering down at him.

"That must be the correct answer or otherwise you wouldn't be staring at me like that."

Before Turbo could comprehend much else, Rocky pulled out a switchblade from his back pocket. He quickly kneeled down and grabbed the smaller man by the chin to force him to look at him then snapped the blade open, admiring its shiny surface.

"What is it a combination for?"

Shaking heavily, Turbo couldn't even find the words to speak. Lies of all shapes and forms rushed into his head but he knew he could never sell them convincingly, not in this position. His anxiety increased when he felt the cool metallic blade against his throat, trying hard not to gulp out of fear that it would be enough to cut him.

"Tell me and you live, let's put it that way," Rocky smiled darkly.

His life flashed before his eyes, both the previous one and this new one, as short as it had been. He thought about what would happen if he were to die, how the twins would once more be without a home because their avatar had never come back. He couldn't do that to them, not again.

"I-i-it's f-for the c-code vault," he forced himself to answer, knots forming in his stomach as he did so.

Rocky's eyes brightened at that. "Code vault? What's that? Sounds intriguing."

The blade pressed closer to his throat and Turbo spat out, "It's a room in all the games that houses the codes. Everything about the game is stored in there. It's the game's lifeblood."

The more muscular avatar grinned with delight. "Oh, so it's like the soul of the game, huh? What were you planning to do, go inside one and play God?"

Instead of awaiting an answer, Rocky released his hold on Turbo who collapsed his head to the floor, feeling sick to his stomach and his head spinning by this unforeseen change of events in his life.

"Hmm...what could one do with such power?" Rocky mused to himself as he looked upon his new possession. "I could make my own game better, perhaps. Make it to where my car's weapons are more powerful or something."

A malicious grin appeared. "Or I could _destroy _one."

Turbo's eyes popped open upon hearing that, all of his insides clenching together.

_No...no, he can't._

"I bet that's what you were planning, wasn't it, has-been?" Rocky smirked down at him. "You were going to do something to my game's code and make us mess up so Litwak would put us out of order."

Truthfully, Turbo hadn't known what he was going to do with it, though that particular idea had certainly crossed his mind. Rocky was a lot smarter than he had initially given him credit for and the fact that he was in possession of such great power was horrifying.

"This is going to be fun," Rocky said to himself as he tucked the napkin away safely into his jeans pocket. "I'll just speed up the inevitable and destroy _you_."

Fear, true genuine fear, grabbed a hold of Turbo's entire being. He hadn't felt like this since...well, yesterday when he flew himself into the volcano, but before that he had never felt fear. Not like this. He was scared for his very life, for the _twins' _lives. He had hoped to spare them this time around but things were not looking as if they'd go that way.

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt something sharp pierce into his abdomen and his breath caught into a gasp. The knife, he had somehow forgotten about it. He saw Rocky pull his arm back with his blood-stained knife and then clean it off on a clean rag that was part of the washroom's inventory. Turbo hands pressed into his stomach and he looked down to see blood steadily leaking out of him, staining his ivory white suit and mixing in with the few red accents that he had on it.

His mind was in a haze to process what had just occurred and he watched numbly as Rocky's boot came flying once more into his face, forcing him to black out. He didn't see Rocky exit the washroom and leave with his two goons, the three of them exiting the game together.


	12. Chapter 12

Wow, I just got inspired all of a sudden and slammed this baby out. So here's a new chapter sooner than I expected!

* * *

**The Path Not Taken**

_Meanwhile..._

Felix had trouble concentrating after his chat with Gene earlier...or rather his _scolding_ from Gene. It wasn't that he didn't like or appreciate the things that the Nicelanders did for him, but sometimes they were a bit...suffocating. They were so needy for his attention, like if he did not give any to one particular person they would take it to heart. They constantly asked him for help on things that honestly they didn't need help with, like hanging a picture frame for Deanna or rearranging Don's ship-in-a-bottle collection.

Not that he didn't mind helping them, of course, but the idea of having his own life and doing things that he wanted to do for himself always preoccupied his mind. The Nicelanders didn't even like the idea of him going outside the game without a chaperone out of fear that something would kill him and the game would be unplugged. To think of it, were they really concerned about _him_? Or were they more concerned about their _home_? It was a nagging question and Felix couldn't hlp but think that maybe they were just using him sometimes to make their own lives simpler instead of genuinely wanting to be his friend.

Ralph, however, didn't have such a problem. No, _his_ problem was that he had no one at all. Granted, he had all the freedom in the world to do what he wanted but at the same time no one ever let him do anything because he was a "bad guy". It really made no sense if Felix thought long enough about it. The things that Turbo had said to him at _BurgerTime_ would haunt him every so often, about how it can't be true that Ralph is happy being alone and spending his days drinking root beer at _Tapper's_ all by himself.

So today, when the arcade closed, Felix went down to his penthouse like he always did to hang up his last medal for the day. He sighed and looked out the window to see Ralph wiping away the rest of the mud from his clothes and head for his stump to take a quick nap before maybe heading out for a little while. No one ever cared if Ralph went outside the game unsupervised...like no one cared if anything happened to _him_, even though he was just as important to the game as Felix was. Can't go fixing windows if there isn't anyone to destroy them after all.

Never breaking routine, Felix's private time in his room was interrupted for the umpteenth time by the Nicelanders filing into his house like they owned the place, never knocking or asking permission to do so. It was their _right_, you know, to visit their hero whenever they wanted. Felix could hear the usual chit-chat going on around him though he didn't pay attention: Mary was asking what flavor of pie he wanted for the night, Don wanted him to go see a new ship that he made, Roy needed to have a chat because he was worried about something (he had a habit of making mountains out of molehills), Norwood was saying that his cats missed him coming to visit, Deanna and Gene were arguing about how some furniture should be arranged in the penthouse, etc.

All their voices merged together in the background of Felix's mind as he continued to steal glances outside towards the ever-growing brick pile. He couldn't imagine sleeping on those things; it was bad enough when he got hit by one during a game. He at last turned his attention back to his neighbors and said,

"Fellas, if it's quite all right, I'm going to go out for a while."

Everyone shut up once he started talking and they all stared at him with dumbfounded expressions. Mary coughed politely in her hand while Gene asked,

"Sure, that's perfectly all right, Felix. Um, who do you want going with you?"

Everyone was looking at him with identical looks of hope, each of them always wanting to be the one he chose to go outside the game with. Yesterday, when he went to_ BurgerTime_, had been the first time in a long time that he had managed to sneak away without one of them. It had been nice to not get fussed over so much and he wished it happened more often. But now, here they all were, staring and waiting for him to say the name of the lucky neighbor that got to spend the afternoon with their beloved hero. They all had a desire to feel wanted, needed, and feel more important than the others for the evening.

Felix cleared his throat and rubbed his gloved hands together. "Ralph."

Everyone went silent again and the handyman broke out into a sweat as he awaited whatever delayed reaction they might convey. After a few seconds, they all burst into riotous laughter. This made him even more nervous than the initial silence did.

"Oh, Felix, you really got us there!"

"What a sense of humor!"

"I can't stop laughing!"

"Seriously, Felix, who do you want to go with you?"

He braced himself and repeated himself in a firmer tone. The laughter eventually died down as they all realized that he wasn't joking and everyone instead stood in uncomfortable silence, not sure what to say out loud. Gene pushed himself to the front of the group, not bothering to hide his anger.

"Felix, this isn't funny," he informed him bitterly, his arms crossed in front of him. "Was I talking to a brick wall earlier today, hmm? Was I just wasting my breath?"

"No, no, I was listening," Felix assured him in a calm voice. "I just don't agree with you."

Gene looked absolutely flabbergasted, his eyes big and his mouth dropping open. "Don't _agree_ with me?"

"Yes," the protagonist replied as he continued standing his ground. "And don't start on me about not appreciating anything that any of you do for me. I love all of you and I like spending time with you. I'm always flattered when you fellas do something nice for me. I just think that maybe Ralph would appreciate some of that same behavior, don't you think? After all, he's a big part of the game."

They all startled back and began murmuring amongst themselves, not sure what to make of this "unusual behavior" that their hero was displaying. Gene's face turned red as it fell back into a scowl.

"Felix, he's a _bad guy_-"

"So what?" Felix replied as he threw his hands up in exasperation. "That doesn't mean he's a person without feelings. You think he really likes being shunned or living in the brick pile or not having any friends? It's not his fault that he's the bad guy. I mean...look at Turbo! He's technically the "good guy" of his game but he doesn't necessarily act very "good" when he's out meandering around the GCS. Plus, _he _hangs out with _his_ enemies."

He felt bad about calling the racer out in such a manner but he was trying to get a point across.

"Felix, first of all, Turbo _isn't_ a good guy because he has _competitors_," Gene corrected him through clenched teeth. "Competitors are _not_ enemies."

"Yeah, but they still serve the same purpose: not letting him win the game," Felix added as reinforcement to his statement. "I see no difference in the two. If it's good enough for the most popular character in the arcade, then it shouldn't be a big deal for _me_ to do the same thing."

With that, he didn't want to hear anymore so he tipped his hat at them all and strolled his way out of his penthouse, everyone staring after him as if he'd lost his mind.

* * *

Ralph heard the unmistakable _boing_ noise that sounded whenever Felix made a jump and it was quite obvious that he was leaping up the brick pile to come see him. The wrecker groaned, wondering what he could possibly want. The little handyman eventually made it to the top and positioned himself next to Ralph, who was currently laying back with his hands cushioning the back of his head.

"Hiya, Ralph," Felix greeted him with a smile, a hint of anxiety riddled through him.

"Your guard dogs didn't follow you?" the other asked dryly, continuing to stare up at the night sky.

Felix gulped and responded, "No, I told them to stay home. I was...wondering if maybe we could hang out again? Like yesterday?" He chuckled at that then added, "Well, except for me getting crashed, that is."

Ralph looked over at him when he said that, checking to make sure he wasn't joking around with this. "You sure about that? I mean, you're probably going to get another earful from Gene."

The handyman sighed and gave a little shrug. "I think Gene would give it to me any time I did something that he didn't want me to do anyway. Regardless, I'd like to try being friends if you still want to."

He seemed to be pretty serious when he said this, still keeping his usual friendly tone at the same time. It _had_ been nice having a buddy yesterday.

Felix stepped back a bit when Ralph stood up to his full height, stretching his back out as he did so. "All right," he told him once he was finished. "But only half a root beer for you."

* * *

Ted was swinging his legs off the end of the stool he was sitting on as he waited for his brother to get done checking his car's oil levels. Ever since Teddy mentioned that Turbo might be up to something, Ted had been on edge and excessively worried about him. Finally, Teddy was done and he wiped his hands on a nearby washrag before closing the hood of his car.

"All right, let's go check on Turbs to see what kind of mischief he's gotten into."

Ted grinned, happy they were finally going, but then he heard what sounded like an engine coming towards them. They both glanced at each other in confusion before stepping out of their garage.

"That doesn't sound like Turbo's car," Ted whimpered, cowering slightly behind his brother. "And I think I hear more than one."

Teddy's eyes lowered as a red car came driving into view, followed closely by two men on motorcycles. "That's because it's _not_ Turbo."

Rocky ran his fingers backwards through his hair as he stepped out of his vehicle, Jud and Rud following behind him. All three were wearing dark grins on their face as if they were planning to cause trouble. Ted whimpered some more and Teddy clenched his fists, deepening his glare as he watched Rocky come closer.

"You guys have no business being here," he informed them, trying to sound tough and commanding despite the dread he was feeling.

"Oh, we have business all right," Rocky sneered down at him before nodding his head at his goons.

Without warning, the motorcyclists each pounced on the twins, Jud taking hold of Ted and Rud grabbing Teddy. They thrashed and fought to no avail since their attackers were much stronger than them, and Rocky searched around the garage before finding some thick rope.

"Hold still, maggots," he growled at them as he hastily started tying them up, wrapping them up like cocoons so that any movement would be impossible.

"What are you doing!" Teddy demanded furiously as he tried to wiggle in his binds.

Rocky grabbed him under his chin and said, "You're going to help me destroy your avatar, that's what."

Ted whined in fear while his more authoritative twin gaped at him. "You...what? We wouldn't dare do anything to hurt Turbo! He's our family!"

He earned a slap in the face for that, his head swinging harshly to the side. Rocky grabbed his chin again to force him to stare at him.

"I don't care _what_ he is!" he snapped back impatiently. "Where is your code vault?"

"What is he talking about?" Ted whispered to his brother, who had developed a look of confusion upon hearing the question.

"Code vault?" Teddy repeated, shaking his head as he did not understand. "I don't know what that is."

Rocky growled and and grabbed him by his neck, causing him to choke. Teddy couldn't very well defend himself all tied up and he could hear his brother start to softly cry beside him. The blonde-haired rival put his face close to the smaller racer's and screamed,

"WHERE IS IT!"

"I...don't...know," he croaked out as his throat became more constricted.

Irritated, Rocky threw his head back down and Teddy was allowed to breathe again. The_ RoadBlasters_ avatar paced away for a minute, forcing himself to calm down and think clearly. He turned back to his men and declared,

"Well, if we're going to play this the hard way, then we'll just have to search for it. One of you take the garage and the stadium, the other search the smaller house, and I'll search Turbo's house."

* * *

**HALF AN HOUR LATER**

"Whoops, sorry, Tapper!" Ralph chortled as he accidentally knocked his mug off the counter, the contents splashing all over the floor and the mug clanging a few times unbroken before finally rolling against the stool's legs.

Felix hopped off his own seat. "I'll go grab a mop, Taps, don't worry about it."

He hurried himself past the growing crowd in the bar and made it to the hallway without much problem. The washroom door was closed and Felix grabbed the handle to open it. The light was off so he switched it on and-

Felix gasped in horror and held both hands up to his mouth. "Jiminy jaminy, Turbo?!"

The racer appeared unconscious, blood pooled around him and his hands were just barely pressed against his abdomen where it looked like he'd been stabbed. Felix could just barely make out his chest rising and falling to signify that he was in fact alive. How long had he been here? Who had done this? After shaking himself from his hesitation, Felix grabbed his hammer out of his toolbelt and immediately healed his stab wound, yet Turbo remained unconscious. Apparently, the hammer had limitations when it came to fixing people.

He hastily grabbed some towels that were on a shelf and went to work cleaning up the blood around him and then trying to wipe it off of him, the whole while saying his name forcefully in hopes that he would wake up. Turbo groaned a bit and Felix tried to help sit him up against the wall, patting him on the face.

"Turbo? Can you hear me? Turbo!"

"Whaaaa-?"

"Turbo, who did this to you! Wake up!"

The racer grimaced a bit and cracked his eyes open painfully. "Fe...Feeeeel-"

"Yes, it's me, Felix!" he finished for him, going crazy with apprehension and panic. "Who did this! Tell me!"

He didn't get an answer because he passed out again.

* * *

_Meanwhile..._

Rocky was getting more aggravated as this fruitless search continued. He had already looked all over the first floor only to find nothing. Tired, he dragged himself up the stairs to begin searching the second floor. The first room he encountered was what appeared to be the trophy room where Turbo kept all his golden cups. Knocking a few over, he went inside and started looking around for any signs of a hidden door somewhere. He looked on the wall and saw a large picture of the racer in his 8-bit form hanging gloriously over the trophies as if keeping watch over them.

Disgusted, Rocky grabbed the frame and ripped the picture down then startled back. Behind the picture was a deep square notch in the wall that contained a small button. Curious, he pressed this button and felt the floor shake. Becoming alarmed that he had perhaps triggered a booby trap, he quickly backed up and watched as the wall spun itself to reveal a hidden room behind it. Realization hit him and Rocky grinned triumphantly.

He cautiously traversed the short hallway that had been exposed and came across an odd contraption that consisted of a directional pad, an A and B button, and a Start and Select button. Rocky smirked and pulled out the Tapper's napkin that he had been keeping in his jeans pocket.

"Found ya."


	13. Chapter 13

_Gah I cannot believe how fast I am typing this thing! Must be all the Pepsi XD Well, enjoy these fast updates while you can. We're getting pretty close to the end by the way._

* * *

**The Path Not Taken**

Rocky stood in awe after the door to the code vault opened, allowing him to view for the first time what the game's lifeblood looked like. Inky blackness filled up most of the space, how far back it went he could not tell. The rest of the space was taken up by small blue boxes illuminating what otherwise would be a pitch dark area, each of them connected by fragile wires as to form groups. The awestruck avatar leaned forward into it and realized quickly that the entire vault was absent of gravity. Not wanting to float away into the unknown, Rocky settled for leaving the vault for now until he could get his two accomplices to help him.

* * *

Cold water splashed all over Turbo's face, causing him to pop his eyes open and take in a sharp breath, finally fully conscious for the first time since his beating. He put his hand to his heart and jerked his head around, seeing the concerned expression on Fix-It Felix's face and the more curious one on Wreck-It Ralph, who was holding a small bucket that had been used to toss the water on him.

"Are you okay, neighbor?" Felix inquired of him, reaching his hand out to help the racer up.

"Do I _look_ fine!" he snapped at him, shoving his awaiting hand away. "I was knocked out and stabbed in the gut by that low-life, Rocky! Would _you_ be okay?!"

The handyman winced at being yelled at and Ralph's eyes narrowed into a glare. "Hey, you should be more appreciative, Turbo. If Felix hadn't found you when he had, you'd have bled to death right there in the washroom."

Turbo began trying to stand himself up, Felix wisely hanging back yet prepared to make a move to help in case he was needed.

"Yeah? Well, that'd be better than-"

The similar glare that Turbo had been wearing faded into a more horrified expression, his eyes getting big and his snarl falling into more of an open-mouthed frown.

"Oh, crap, the twins!" he randomly spit out, knocking Felix out of his way as he bolted for the little train at _Tapper's_ portal.

Felix and Ralph exchanged glances after he ran off, then the former said, "You think something happened in _TurboTime_? Maybe we should follow him."

Ralph heaved a sigh and rubbed his neck unsurely. "I dunno, Felix, maybe we should stay out of other people's drama."

"Yeah, but if something really bad is happening, we might can help put a stop to it!" the handyman insisted, beating a fist softly into his open palm decisively. "Come on, brother, we can't abandon our neighbor in his time of need."

_Brother? _

Ralph didn't comment immediately. Here he was, for the first time in his existence, being talked to and treated like a real person...by Felix, no less. He had pulled out of his dark shell by someone that he figured would be unlikely to do it. And now that person was asking him to help out another person that was possibly going through a rough time. Even if it _was _Turbo, the biggest hothead and braggart in the whole arcade. Then again, did it really matter who it was that needed help? Regardless of who it was, the fact was that he was in obvious distress about something and Turbo wasn't one to go into a panic like that for no reason.

"Yeah, you're right," Ralph finally agreed with his protagonist with a stiff nod. "Best follow him and make sure he doesn't make things worse anyway."

* * *

"You see this door?"

Ted and Teddy were plopped down about three yards from the oddly designed door that Rocky was showing them, one that they had never known existed until now. Ted was pressing himself into his brother's side, chewing considerately on his lip, while Teddy simply looked perplexed. Rud tied one end of another long rope they had found to the handrail in the hallway while Rocky tied the other tight around his waist.

"This is where the core of your soul lies," he explained to them gravely, turning to punch in the combination.

The door opened and the twins gasped unanimously at the strangely beautiful sight of tiny blue rectangles floating weightlessly in a black sea. Neither of them had ever even thought that it would be possible to examine your own code in this manner, having simply assumed that their code was purely restricted to their own bodies. The idea had never been perceived by either of them that their codes was actually housed away in a secret compartment in the game.

Teddy understood before his brother did that Rocky meant to do serious damage to inside this code vault. Horror struck him as he watched their rival leap into the cyberspace and float freely in place.

"What are you going to do?!" he called out, not even bothering to hide the fear that he felt. "Delete us?"

Rocky made a few trial swimming motions until he got accustomed to the lack of gravity. "That's the plan," he answered casually. "Or rather, delete the one person who actually matters in this cesspool of a game."

Ted let out a sob. "He's gonna kill Turbo!" he wailed out, tears running down his face and dripping onto the ropes that held him. "Teddy, he's gonna kill him!"

"I know that!" his brother unintentionally snapped at him, though the same thought was running through his mind as well, his stomach twisting into knots as his mind raced to find a solution to this impending disaster. Yet no solution came to him. He sighed deeply and hung his head down in defeat. "There's nothing we can do about it."

* * *

Rocky swam through the horde of code boxes, reading off the labels that were attached to them silently as he hunted for the one he was after. At last, he reached the group's nucleus, a much larger box that read "TURBO" in big white letters. With a smile dripping with malice, he observed the fragile cords that attached the avatar's box to the rest of the game. Chuckling to himself, he pulled out his switchblade, careful not to drop it. He first lowered himself to the cords below the box and held them together in a bundle, then sliced through them effortlessly.

* * *

Turbo had just reached the end of the tunnel; after hopping out of the train, he felt his body flicker into random bits of code. It didn't hurt, it felt like his brain had scattered and that his body had become literally unglued to itself. In horror, he held out his hand and witnessed his body transform briefly into straight blue binary. It was not unlike what had happened to young Vanellope von Schweetz of _Sugar Rush_; every time she got overly excited or even just in random moments, she would do the exact same thing. His heart nearly stopped as reality dawned on him.

_Glitch._

"Holy hot rods," he muttered to himself. "He's turning me into a _glitch_!"

Turbo mustered up every bit of energy he had and forced himself to run out of _Tapper's_ completely before the glitch status became fully recognized. Home, he had to get home! His car was parked just outside of the game; if he could get to it, maybe he could still make it inside before he was permanently closed off from going inside. He knew that glitches could not leave their game, but if a glitch was created while _outside_ the game then they could never go inside of it. If he could get inside, he could cross the finish line just like Vanellope had done, and reset his game just like _Sugar Rush_ had.

He leaped into his car, started the engine and quickly thrust it into high gear, the vehicle angrily roaring at him at his rough treatment of it. He felt himself glitch again, a bizarre phenomenon to experience, praying to the arcade gods that he could make it in time. He saw the entrance to _TurboTime_ and raced straight for it and-

_BZZZZZZ!_

* * *

Ted was crying heavily by the time Rocky came back to the landing base, allowing the door to the vault to close. Teddy had a few tears as well but he was trying to hold it together so that his brother wouldn't go completely into hysterics. Rocky coldly smirked down at them and patted them both condescendingly on their helmets.

"Hope you two have fun getting unplugged in the morning," he told them in a sickly sweet voice. "I hear it's a rather agonizing process. Bits of code ripping from your body, slowly disintegrating into nothing. I only wish I could see it." He snapped his fingers. "Oh wait, I'm positioned across from you guys so I _can _see it! Haha!"

"_SHUT UP_!" Teddy howled at him, shaking despite his brave front. "You _murderer!_ You didn't have to kill him! Our game was more than likely going to get unplugged anyway thanks to your new popularity so why'd you have to do that!"

Rocky rolled his shoulders effortlessly. "Because I could." He smiled at them before walking around them. "Sweet dreams, rugrats."

* * *

The car threw itself backwards as it hit an invisible barrier and its driver cried out in unexpected pain from the excessive jolt. Turbo shook his head and stared ahead at his portal, nothing seemingly there. Panic grew inside of him and he jumped out of his seat and ran for it. His hands outstretched, he reached for the entrance, his fingers barely touching the barrier and felt a forceful push against his person.

Dummied out. Rocky had dummied him out of his game. And he didn't even have the pleasure of being inside the cabinet when it happened. He was trapped out here in Game Central Station.

"No," he whispered to himself as nauseated doom came over him. "No...no..." He put his hands on top of his helmet, trying to hold himself together. "No...this can't be happening to me...It can't..."

Rage overwhelmed him and Turbo tore his helmet off his head, slamming his shoulder into the barrier, each time throwing him back a few feet. His shoulder ached but he cared not and he began beating at the barrier with his helmet in vain, uselessly trying to force himself through. Hot tears of regret and anger ran down his cheeks, and at last he exhausted himself and he collapsed just in front of where the barrier was at.

His fault...this was all his fault. If only he had been satisfied with his life and let it run its course naturally, none of this would be happening to him. Why did he feel he had to take complete control of his life like this? He never should have left to go find that napkin. Maybe Rocky wouldn't have gotten a hold of it. Maybe he shouldn't have started that fight. Maybe...maybe he should have just stayed at home like he should have the _first_ time he went through this predicament.

The twins...oh the twins! What if he had glitched them too? They wouldn't know to cross the finish line to reset the game, if it would even work with them. If it reset without Turbo inside, would it even do anything to fix his own glitch? He had no idea what had become of them and it was all his fault if anything _had_ happened. Just like the first time.

Is this how Vanellope had felt? Forced to never participate in her own game with absolutely nothing she could do about it? What had she even done with her spare time while he had been ruling in her spot? Where had she lived? How did she ever survive with this cursed glitch? He had never thought about what a selfish, monstrous thing he had done to that little girl until it had happened to him.

Maybe he deserved this. Karma finally had caught up to him and it was biting him hard in the butt. He deserved to be glitched out of his game after all the misery he had put everyone through.

Turbo laid there prone on the floor in front of his car and cradled his face in his hands as he began to weep over their situation. He felt himself glitch again but he didn't even care about that anymore. What did it matter anyway? It wasn't too long after he heard the sound of engines roaring up to him and he heard one of them stop in front of him yet he did not look up. He knew who it was.

"Huh, you didn't die," Rocky commented aloud as he stuck his head out the driver's seat window.

His eyes widened as he watched Turbo glitch for a few seconds and then he threw his head back and laughed. "Oh-ho! I made you a glitch, eh? Oh, that's even better! You get to watch your game get unplugged while you stand out here helplessly!" He threw a mock salute at him. "I'll go have a drink in your memory, has-been!"

He laughed cruelly at the despondent racer before speeding off to park in front of _Tapper's_ where Jud and Rud were already waiting on him.

* * *

Ted hadn't stopped crying since the _RoadBlasters_ trio abandoned them in the secret hallway behind Turbo's trophy room. His twin on the other hand was sitting quietly staring at the code vault's door with a blank expression, trying to tune out everything out without much luck. Hearing his brother sniffle and cry normally didn't bother him, but right now he'd much prefer not to hear it.

"He killed Turbo, Teddy," he was mewling quietly as he shook with every gasping sob he took. "He _killed _him."

"Will you _please_ stop crying!" Teddy growled, forcefully shutting his eyes and gritting his teeth at the constant noise beside him. "Crying's not going to bring him back so just _shut up_!"

Ted cringed at hearing his brother snap at him and he tried to stifle his tears but yet they continued to come. His brother sighed raggedly and cursed himself before attempting to scoot himself closer to him, bumping him in the side a little bit. Ted laid his head against his shoulder to rest a bit.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get angry," Teddy whispered as he stared at the floor. "I'm just as upset as you are. I don't see any way out of this one."

"Are we gonna die?"

The question stung Teddy in the gut and his heart hurt to even think of answering him. "I don't know. There's a good possibility since I doubt we're gonna make it out of here before Litwak unplugs us...which he'll certainly do once he sees Turbo's not here."

Ted took slow deep breaths to get his crying under control and sniffed a few times. "Well...if we _are_ going to die...I'm glad we're gonna do it together."

Hearing his brother talk about dying in such a peaceful manner made Teddy start crying himself and he laid his head sideways on top of Ted's.

"I love you, bubby," Ted told him in a small voice, using the rarely said nickname that they said for each other when one was hurt or upset.

Teddy rubbed his cheek against his brother's helmet. "I love you, too."

* * *

_Okay guys, I'm seriously rating this **T** after this chapter. I'm pretty sure I already crossed the K+ rating with the violence in this and it only gets "better" after this.  
_


	14. Chapter 14

_Just to make it clear, there's no shipping in this story. Just friend-shipping. Why I thought I had to add that, I dunno. In case anyone's wondering, I guess. Also, no I haven't quit working on my other fic, I just keep getting inspired with THIS one.  
_

* * *

**The Path Not Taken**

Felix knew something was wrong as soon as he laid eyes on Turbo laying on the floor and crying into his arms. To make up for lost time, he bounced himself the rest of the way to get there sooner and he knelt down by his distressed neighbor.

"Turbo, what's the matter?" he asked him quietly, not sure what to do to console him. If it had been anyone else, he might would have patted them on the back soothingly but he had a feeling Turbo wouldn't like that too much. "Why are you crying like that? Why didn't you go inside your game?"

"I c-c-aaaaa-n-n-t!" the racer told him, glitching while he said it so that his voice was warbled.

Felix jerked back in shock, his mouth hanging open as he witnessed what he thought was impossible. "Did...did you just..."

Turbo held his head up and shot the handyman a look that read of both anger and sorrow, tears staining his gray cheeks. "Yeee3s5s...I-I11 1'm a gl-gl1-1-itch!"

"Oh my lands," Felix uttered under his breath as he sat up on his knees, not being able to help but stare at the racer as he flickered into random patterns of blue and numbers. "A glitch..."

Ralph had finally caught up to them but he had seen the whole thing on his way there. He, too, was wearing a shocked expression, blankly staring down at Turbo for himself. Felix looked up at him and shook his head to silently tell him not to ask what happened and Ralph nodded, not wanting to really ask anyway since he felt it wasn't his business. Turbo sat himself up and let the back of his helmet hit his car's front bumper with a soft _clang_ and looked up wearily at the ceiling of GCS, finally having stopped glitching for the time being.

"Rocky ripped my code up," he explained quietly, not bothering to glance at the two other men. "He has a combination that lets you inside the code vaults in the games and he tore mine apart."

Felix put a hand over his mouth, his eyes having grown large. "Are you _serious_? He dummied you out?"

At that, the racer looked curiously at him. "Wait, you know about code vaults?"

The handyman cocked a brow in confusion. "Of course I do. All of us game leaders know about our code vault. Ours is in the basement. Everyone has their own combination though, how did Rocky get yours?"

"It's a combination that unlocks _any_ vault," Turbo explained tiredly, developing a headache from all this talking. "Think of it like a skeleton key."

Ralph was glancing back and forth between the two avatars, reaching a hand up to scratch his head. "What are you two talking about? And we have a _basement_?"

Felix decided to explain since Turbo wasn't in much condition to do so. "There is a hidden room in each game that consists of our codes. It's kind of like the game's soul; anything that is wrong with the game is traced back to something that is wrong at the base. What Turbo is saying is that Rocky went in and tore something in his personal avatar coding and made it to where he could not enter his own game."

Ralph let out a low whistle. "Wow, that's...that's pretty heartless. But there has to be a way to fix it, right?"

Turbo sighed and wiped his face with a sleeve. "You have to-" he started glitching in mid-sentence, "ree33ss5ee33tt tthe33 gaaam33eee."

"Huh?"

"Reset the game," Felix translated for him, casting a sympathetic look at their neighbor as he tried to control his glitch. "And that probably can't happen without Turbo _inside_ the game because he's the designated game leader. He's the only one that would be able to do a hard reset."

Even though Ralph felt this wasn't any of their business, he suddenly found himself getting frustrated at this situation. "You mean someone can just go inside someone else's game and jack with their code and get away with it? There's absolutely _nothing_ he can do?"

He blew out his breath in frustration and paced back a few steps, running both hands through his hair. "That hardly seems fair, that should be a criminal activity! He can't get away with that, his game'll get unplugged for sure!"

Turbo winced upon hearing Ralph's words; after all, it hadn't been too long ago (in Turbo's mind anyway) that he had ruined a certain princess's life by altering her entire game to suit his own selfish needs. Of course, Ralph wouldn't know any of this, even though he was the one that figured out how to defeat him in the first place, since this was the year 1987 and not 2012. He sniffed and looked over at where Felix was still kneeling down.

"Have you ever been inside your code vault?" Turbo asked him out of curiosity. He found it intriguing that the little guy knew anything about codes at all. He supposed he had never thought about anyone else knowing about the existence of their own code vaults before.

Felix shook his head. "No, never had a reason to."

Ralph snapped his fingers as a thought came to him. "Hey, what if Felix can use his hammer to fix your code? Would that work?"

The racer shook his head to say no but then Felix piped up. "You know, it _might_. It wouldn't hurt to try. Where's your vault at, Turbo, we can go in and take a look."

Turbo glanced up at the two men, his eyes shifting back and forth between the two. "I don't know if it'd work or not, but I guess it's worth a shot. It's in my trophy room on the second floor. There's a button you press hiding behind a p0o0st3r 0f-f mys3el1f."

"Got it," Felix nodded once. "What's your combination?"

Turbo groaned in frustration, hanging his head down again and wiping a hand over his face. "I...dd00on't knn00oww."

He had never used his own code vault before and he honestly couldn't remember the code to it even if he tried really hard to do so. Ralph cleared his throat to get the two avatars to look at him before cracking his large knuckles.

"Um, I'm a _wrecker_, remember?"

* * *

Felix and Ralph had never been inside _TurboTime_ before, as neither had ever had a reason to, and they were both momentarily lost upon entering it. Ralph saw the huge white house that was situated behind the stadium, which was flanked on both sides by either the smaller house that the twins lived in or the car garage. Upon entering, they each took a look around the interior of the alabaster mansion with the red accents and Ralph let out another low whistle.

"Man, and I thought you guys' penthouses were nice," the wrecker muttered under his breath.

That got Felix thinking. "You know, I just had a thought. Instead of sleeping on the brick pile, how's about we build a house for you out of them?"

Ralph gave him a curious look and then genuinely smiled for the first time that day. "Really? You mean it? A real house?"

"Why sure!" the handyman grinned back at him. "It should be easy enough. Just build something that resembles a house and then I'll "fix it" per se to make it look really nice. We'd just have to find you some furniture and things to go in it."

He was going to say something else but he found himself getting suddenly picked up and squeezed by the larger man, his face pressing into his chest and nearly suffocating.

"Thanks, Felix, you're the greatest!"

He heard what sounded like a muffled "you're welcome" and realized that he was accidentally killing his protagonist. He pulled him away to let him breathe, a nervous grin on his face.

"Heh, sorry 'bout that."

"'S'Okay, Ralph," Felix replied breathlessly, straightening his cap back onto his head.

They traversed up the stairs, Ralph careful not to break anything and also mentally worrying that he would crash _through_ the staircase and completely demolish Turbo's fancy house. Then again, he had Felix with him so if he did mess something up it would get fixed. Thankfully, he was able to make it to the second floor without a problem, though the roof was definitely lower up here and he had to hunch over in order to fit in the hallway. The house was definitely built for a smaller person, Turbo being only a wee bit taller than Felix himself.

It didn't take Felix long to find the hidden button on the wall as the picture that it had been hiding behind was still thrown on the floor where Rocky had left it. He pushed it to open the wall up and he went ahead to run inside to survey whatever damage had been done there while Ralph took his time not knocking the little trophies over...which he did regardless.

* * *

Turbo had taken to sitting in his car after the handyman and wrecker had disappeared into the _TurboTime_ portal. He sighed deeply, running his hand along his steering wheel and turning it ever so gently to the right and left. Two days. He had only been back here for approximately two days and already he had screwed up big time. If only he could get that napkin back! Just so Rocky couldn't do more damage with it...so _no one_ could damage with it. Groaning at his own idiocy and stubborn pride that had caused this mess in the first place, he thumped his head against the steering wheel.

"Seems like every time I see you, you're either unconscious or have your head down."

_That voice._ The annoying sweet one...

Turbo jerked his head up and to the left of him to finally visualize in full the cheerleader from yesterday that he had briefly spoken with. She had this fresh-faced look of innocence about her that for some reason reminded him of those kids at _Sugar Rush_, even though she was obviously not a child, yet it kind of aggravated him a bit to even be reminded of them.

"You're the chick from yesterday, right?" he wanted to clarify before he carried this conversation any further.

She smiled a little bit and flicked her eyes down for a second as if suddenly bashful. "Yep, that'd be me. I didn't think you'd remember after that little facial massage you took."

"Yeah, well things have gotten considerably worse since then," he said out loud, relaxing back in his seat as he continued to stare out at his game portal. He didn't even know why he was bothering speaking to her.

"Oh? How so?"

She sounded genuinely concerned, though why he had no idea. Maybe she was one of those annoying do-gooders that just liked to make sure everyone was all hunky-dory and junk. Her question was answered in the form of him randomly glitching in his seat for a few seconds before settling back down. He growled at his new condition and rubbed his hand in his face, embarrassed for anyone to see him like this.

The girl's eyes had gotten wide and she looked over to the side to cough politely. "Oh dear, that...uh...that's new, huh? Does it hurt?"

"It kinda feels like you do when you're having one of those dreams where you can't control yourself." He gave her a wary glance. "Do you always go around asking people how they're doing and stuff?"

She looked a bit taken aback and she started fiddling with her fingers in a nervous fashion, a habit that Turbo had once forced Ted to break because it drove him half insane when he did it. It took all he had to grab at her hands to force her to stop doing it.

"Well, all of us cheerleaders...me and my girls, that is...we always go around in spare time asking if people are all right. I think it's part of our programmed cheerful natures to make sure that everyone else is having a good day."

Turbo scoffed at the idea quietly. "The only things that would cheer _me_ up would be getting rid of this glitch and getting that stupid napkin back."

An idea popped into his head and he turned his head to the little red-haired girl, a studious look on his face. A grin flashed on his face and the girl looked a bit confused at his sudden change in mood.

"Say, you know what? You can be of use to me," he said in his most butter-smooth voice. "You mind doing me a little favor?"

She didn't seem too sure about that. "Um...I guess...what is it?"

* * *

"Teddy, you hear that?"

He perked his head up when he heard a mysterious _boing_ noise and then later he heard the wonderfully familiar voice of their neighbor Felix asking,

"My lands, what happened to you two?"

"_Rocky_ happened," Teddy answered him simply as Felix tried to undo the knots in the ropes that bound them. His hands burned at trying to tear at the rough material and he found it was of no use to do it himself.

Ralph lumbered along, having survived the trophy room (although the trophies' survival was a different story). Upon seeing the boys all tied up, he immediately used his big hands to carefully tear them free, worried that he might accidentally hurt their little bodies. Once free, the twins stretched out their cramped muscles.

"Oh boy, we thought we were goners for sure!" Ted admitted while giving the hero/villain duo a gracious smile.

Teddy gave them a curious glance. "Hey, why are you guys in our game anyway? Not that I'm complaining."

Felix shrugged casually. "Well, we offered to come in and try manually resetting the game on our own. Not sure if it'll work or not but we'll try."

"Yeah, Turbo's trapped outside the game," Ralph added as he cracked his knuckles in preparation for tearing the door to the code vault down. "He's glitching like crazy out there!"

The twins hushed and stared silently at them. "You..you mean, he's alive?" Ted asked quietly, his eyes shining bright with unshed tears.

"Sure, what made you think he wasn't?" Felix asked them with a raised brow.

"We thought when Rocky ripped his code that he-" Teddy began to say but he was interrupted by his brother squeezing him into a hug. "We thought that killed him."

"Turbo's alive!" Ted was squealing as he hopped up and down, still squeezing his twin tightly. "I can't wait to see him again!"

Ralph slammed his fist into the code vault door which immediately shut Ted up and prompted him to hide behind his brother. The wrecker had to throw a few more punches in to get the door to finally cave in and finally break in half. He grabbed at one side and ripped it off completely, throwing it behind him and then did the other side. He and Felix gasped in the same manner the twins had upon finally viewing the code room. Felix sighed and grabbed at the rope that Rocky had used earlier, which was still attached to the handrail, and tied it to himself tightly.

"Here goes nothing," he said before jumping into the abyss.

* * *

_He better appreciate me doing this,_ the cheerleader thought to herself as she walked timidly through the entrance of _Tapper's_, getting on her tiptoes to see over the tops of the patrons heads. She soon spotted the three men that she was instructed to search for and she took a breath before heading close to them. Gritting her teeth, she sat close beside the one in the gray wife-beater shirt and blonde hair who was currently turned and talking to one of his buddies. She held her hand up for Tapper to come give her a root beer and upon receiving it she took a few swigs before "accidentally" toppling it all over the backside of the guy she was sitting beside.

The man jumped up from his stool screaming obscenities at having the cold drink poured on him and at first the cheerleader was frightened to death, hoping that he didn't slap her. However, that never happened. Instead, the man took a good look at her attractive features and began to slowly smile.

"I'm s-sorry, sir," she stuttered slightly upon seeing him stare at her like that, like a hungry wolf staring down his prey...definitely not a way that she liked to be looked at. "I didn't mean to do that."

"Yo, doll, it's fine," the man interrupted her grabbing her by the wrist with his big hand and pulling her off the stool to drag her off to the back hallway. "This just gives you the excuse to help clean me up. Name's Rocky."

She had a miniature freak-out session in her head at the very idea and began to believe that this was definitely the dumbest thing she'd done in her entire month of existence.

Swallowing, she said, "My name's-"

"Ah here we go," Rocky interrupted her, causing her to deflate at not even getting to say her own name.

They had reached the washroom, which had since been cleaned up since Rocky's _last _visit there, and he pulled her inside before shutting the door. Being in a cramped closet like this with such a tall perfect specimen of a man made the girl blush heavily.

"What are we doing in here?" she asked innocently and then performed a jaw drop when Rocky tugged his pants off, revealing his boxers. She threw her hand over her eyes and turned away, causing Rocky to chuckle deeply.

"What's wrong, doll, never seen a guy before?"

"N-n-no..."

"Huh, that's a shame for a skirt like you. Grab me some of those towels over by the sink and wet them so I can wipe this root beer off."

She managed to look behind her without catching sight of anything that she didn't want to see and turned the tap on, her blushing making her feel hot and want to dip her head in the cool water along with the towel. She reached the towel back behind her to hand to him and he only laughed in response before beginning to clean himself. Sweating nervously, she forced herself to turn a bit and saw the jeans thrown on a shelf beside her.

"You w-want me to soak your jeans for a spell?" she asked, trying to force the lump in her throat down.

Not thinking, he stated that was fine and she pulled them down before facing away from him again. She covertly dug in his pocket until she found the paper napkin that she had been instructed to steal and she stuck in the waistline of her skirt and then covered it back up with her shirt. After that, she threw the pants in the sink and quickly said,

"Well, I think I better go now, I forgot my friends and I had a meeting."

She tried to back up towards the door but Rocky grabbed her by the hand, giving her a dark sneer. "Oh no, dollface, you ain't going _nowhere_."

Panicked, she threw her well-toned leg up hard in between his legs, causing him to immediately throw both his hands down to protect himself and crumpled to his knees. The girl took the opportunity to escape, running fast as she could to the little train in the portal before Rocky could recover. Snarling menacingly, he grabbed at his soaking wet jeans and barked,

"You're gonna pay for that, dollface! You're gonna _pay!"_

* * *

"I got it, I got it!"

Turbo heard the girl screaming at him and he perked up in his seat. He saw her wave the blessed napkin in the air to where he could see it and pure utter delight showed on his face. He hopped out of the car, his eyes on his prize and went to go meet her halfway. Finally, the napkin would back where it he knew it was safe...with _him_. Things would be _turbo-tastic_ again now that he was back in control of things.

Everything went in slow motion after that. No sooner had he started walking away from his car, he saw what looked like Rocky dashing out _Tapper's_ as well and heading for his car. Turbo's eyes widened as the other man cranked it up and he heard himself shouting at the girl to get out of the way as he threw himself to the side. Unfortunately, she didn't. Rocky's built-on gun that he kept on his hood went into full blast, riddling the poor cheerleader full of holes. The entire GCS went into a frenzy upon hearing the gunfire and Turbo watched in horror as blood ran out of the girl from almost every part of her, her eyes still staring in his direction only they didn't see anything. After an eerie moment of just standing there with blood pouring out of her, she finally collapsed down dead on the floor, still clutching the napkin in her hand.

He never even knew her name and she was dead because he sent her to do his dirty work for him.

* * *

_yes...I killed her off. Surprised? I'm kinda surprised at myself too. But this is honestly the only one I could do it in since she wasn't his girlfriend in this one, and I am no stranger to killing OC's off.  
_


	15. Chapter 15

_OMG big huge THANK YOU to the person that recommended this to Tv Tropes! I feel pressure to make a super turbo-tastic ending now..._

_And don't worry guys, Rosie won't die in any other story, so...please calm down lol. There's still "Turbo-Tastically Yours" to read with her in it ;) _

* * *

**The Path Not Taken**

_Meanwhile..._

Felix floated amongst the codes, having to push a few out of his way so that he could find Turbo's personal unit. At last, he spotted it just ahead, floating around aimlessly in the middle bumping into other code boxes. The wires on the top and bottom were frayed and they frizzed considerably. Felix grabbed it with both hands and dragged it back to the middle where the damaged cords were still in place. He pulled out his hammer and said a quick prayer to the arcade gods before attempting to line up the frayed ends of the wires together and hit them with the hammer.

His breath held as the wires instantly realigned themselves and snapped back into their rightful place, no longer sparking and sputtering like they had been before. Felix's mouth spread into a wide grin and he lowered himself to do the same to the bottom cords. He got the same reaction and Turbo's little box glowed a healthy shade of blue just like the rest of them did. Feeling his work was done, he tugged on the rope and Ralph pulled him out from the other side.

"I think it worked!" he called out as he was pulled back to the landing spot, keeping one hand on his hat to keep it from flying off. "Let's go back out and see if he's cured now!"

* * *

After seeing the girl die just mere yards away from him, Turbo at first was too shocked to move. True, he didn't know anything about her but he still felt...responsible..._guilty_ for what happened to her. Sure, she _chose_ to do what he asked and get the napkin for him, but she wouldn't have done it if he hadn't asked her to. She had done him a favor and got rewarded by having her body filled up with lead, blood oozing out of her even as her body began to glitch itself into straight binary numbers. If anything, he wasn't going to let the kind stranger die in vain. He forced his legs into action to get to her hand, ripping the napkin from her and uttering a quick apology before high-tailing it back to his car, jamming the napkin in his pants pocket in his hurry.

People were running amok in the GCS, not sure how to comprehend this sudden display of violence that had erupted. Surge Protector, who in this time had never had much reason to really amp up his security tactics, didn't even know how to react, his electric spark atop his head buzzing like mad and looking utterly perplexed and overwhelmed on how to control the madness.

Turbo hadn't glitched in the last several minutes and he could only assume that he was now fixed. Out of the corner of his right eye, Turbo could see Rocky's own car speeding towards him. The white-clad racer revved his engine to life, gripping the steering wheel hard.

"Please...if there are any arcade gods that exist...please let me go through," he muttered a prayer under his breath as he fixated his eyes on his tunnel. "I'll never do anything to forcefully change my fate, I'll even be _good_, just _please_ let me through!"

With that, Turbo slammed his foot on the gas, the tires peeling out on the tile floor. Turbo braced himself for the impact of the barrier and...

He went through!

Laughing with maniacal glee, Turbo felt his heart and spirit lift as he raced his way to his home. They had done it, Felix and Ralph had really done it! Now if only he could get to the twins and apologize for this whole mess, things would be-

Gunshot sounded behind, interrupting his thoughts, and Turbo instinctively ducked his head down yet continued to drive. His rearview mirror told him that Rocky was still on the move, chasing him down and shooting at him with his car's built-on weapon. The drive to live surged through him and he forced his car into a higher gear. He wasn't sure what would happen if he were to get killed in the tunnel to his game, if that would count as being inside or _outside_ the game. More bullets whizzed past him, this time a few hitting his windshield and cracking the glass full of little holes.

_What is he doing, is he crazy?!_

Turbo was sure a few bullets hit his bumper and he continued to drive in a panic, finally seeing the literal light at the end of the tunnel. He raced out into the daytime setting of _TurboTime, _allowing himself to momentarily breathe a sigh of relief that he was able to be back inside his safety zone. Never had he been so happy to see that simple yellow track and its equally as simple environment.

_POW! POW!_

The car jerked and collapsed on its back end, causing it to drag along the ground and slow him down considerably. Turbo knew from experience that his back tires had been blown, having been shot out by his aggressor. The stench of burnt rubber filled the air and Turbo turned his head just in time to see Rocky's car ram him in the back, flying him forward into the windshield.

* * *

"Hey, I think I hear Turbo's car!" Teddy exclaimed with a large grin after the four men had exited Turbo's house. "It worked, it really worked!"

They could barely see the portal entrance from his front door, but they could definitely hear the sound of a car engine approaching closer. Ted grabbed Felix up into a hug as thanks for getting Turbo out of his temporary glitch status, which earned him a strange look from the handyman but he patted him on the back regardless.

"There there, always happy to lend a hand," he said to the teary racer after he finally released him.

Ralph gave Felix a light thump in the shoulder, which simply involved nudging him with one finger. "Good job, Felix. Never knew that hammer had _that_ much power."

Felix blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Aw shucks, it was just a simple patch job."

Everyone's excitement died the second another sound filled their ears...gunfire. They all stared at the portal in silent anticipation and dread as they all saw Turbo drive through the entrance only to be followed a few moments later by Rocky in his car...shooting right at him.

"Dude, is he insane!" Teddy shrieked, grabbing at the sides of his helmet in a panic. "He's totally off his rocker!"

"He can't kill him _here_ though," Felix reminded him as he put a hand on his shoulder.

That did little to quell his fears and he turned to say something to his brother only to find that he wasn't there anymore. "Ted? Where'd Ted go?"

* * *

Turbo's helmet thankfully protected him as he smacked into the glass, cracking it even further. He groaned from the impact, resisting the urge to remove said helmet and rubbing his head in a soothing fashion. His hesitation to remove himself from the vehicle resulted in him getting suddenly picked up by the now crazed Rocky and finding himself thrown out of it by force out into the open. He landed harshly on his back, grimacing in pain but knew that it wouldn't last too long since he was here in _TurboTime_ where he would be able to heal himself eventually.

"You're as bad as a cockroach!" Rocky was spitting at him as he made his way closer, still a few yards away. "Just won't die!"

Turbo scrambled to crawl backwards away from him. "Rocky, come on! I can't die in my own game! You're wasting your time!"

The other man stretched his arms out in front of him before cracking his knuckles, twisting his head to the sides to pop it. "I can still beat you to a bloody pulp and drag you back outside so you can die _there_."

Turbo knew that would be easy for him to do and his heart went up in his throat. "Why do you want me dead so bad?" he inquired of him, still moving himself backwards. "What did I ever do to you? If anything, I should be the one going after _you_ for stealing my popularity from me!"

Rocky paused and threw his head back to laugh before lowering it back down, smirking evilly at his prey. "Because _your_ game, as lame and old-school as it is, still gets players. My game is infinitely better than yours so I deserve _all_ the attention. It's an insult to share it with a has-been like you. I was more than okay with toying around with you until Litwak unplugged you, but I'm starting to get impatient. Things aren't moving _fast_ enough, if you catch my drift."

The white-clad racer couldn't believe what he was hearing. Rocky, the avatar of _RoadBlasters_, the very reason that he had "gone Turbo" in the first place, was jealous of _him_? It was quite an eye-opener. He never thought about how a new game would feel having to compete with an older one that already had years of devoted fans behind its back.

Rocky's gray eyes darkened as he towered himself over the smaller racer, his mood stormier than ever. "It's been _turbo-tastic_ knowing you," he smiled snidely, fully prepared to end this rivalry once and for all.

Turbo braced himself for a world of pain, knowing there wasn't much good trying to get away from this guy if he had murder on his mind. His opponent had begun to lean down to snatch him up again when the sound of a roaring engine coming from the left disrupted him. Scowling, he jerked his head over to the side and Turbo did the same thing. A blue car came barreling towards them and Turbo recognized it as one of the twins'. He forced himself up to hurl himself further back to avoid being hit but Rocky didn't do the same.

Rocky's body smacked into the front bumper, his entire pelvic area shattered on impact and he flew onto the hood of the car. His head connected with the windshield where his skull made a sickening _crack_ noise before the driver slammed on his brakes. Rocky's body slid off the car and he rolled underneath the car as it tried to come to a full stop. Even underneath the car where the shadow darkened him, you could still make out the blood gushing out of his head, various marks and scrapes covering him now.

Turbo sat back, too stunned and terrified to move for the moment, staring at the dead body as it began to slowly disintegrate into separate pixels. His eyes drifted up to the driver and his stomach clenched up.

"Ted?" he asked softly from his awkward sitting position on the ground.

Ted didn't reply, just continued to sit in the car with a petrified look on his face, his hands gripping tightly at his steering wheel and his eyes bugged out his head. His breathing was ragged and he trembled in fear at what he'd just done. Turbo slowly stood up, dusting his pants off without much thought, and crept up to his co-racer with care.

"Ted?" he asked him again, this time a little louder.

The other quietly shut his engine off and let his arms drop to hsi sides, the silence filling the space between the two. Turbo wasn't sure what to think of this sudden turn of events. Before, _he_ had been the one to make sure Rocky died, by making it to where he couldn't escape his game before it was unplugged. Now...

"I couldn't let him kill you," Ted hollowly explained, his eyes still staring out ahead of him. "Family has to stick together, you know?"

He eventually showed some form of emotion and his face fell, Turbo not daring to say a word. Ted's eyes got misty and he started shaking more, on the verge of crying. Turbo felt another pang of guilt at letting things evolve in a way that made Ted commit murder to just save his worthless skin. Sweet little innocent Ted, killed someone to make sure nothing happened to _him_. Apparently, Turbo had vastly underestimated just how committed he was to people he cared about. To think that someone cared about _him_ that way was just...well, words couldn't describe it. "Turbo-tastic" would've been an understatement.

Turbo wrapped his arms around the distraught twin and gave him a hard squeeze, small tears forming in the corners of his own eyes. The unexpected affection made Ted begin to weep softly where he sat, leaning his head up against Turbo's.

"I love you, you crazy stupid kid," Turbo told him hoarsely, his throat tight due to trying to restrain his emotions. "If I'd known you were gonna do this, I'd have done it myself."

He heard running footsteps approaching and then heard them slow down the closer the person got. Turbo peeked his eyes open and twisted his head enough to see Teddy standing there with this shocked look on his face, a hint of a question playing in his expression as he glanced under the car and then back up at the two other racers. Without saying a word, Turbo held out one of his arms in a beckoning motion to get him to come over and join in for a group hug.

Teddy didn't know what had exactly had taken place but he didn't dare ask about just yet. He slowly moved forward and three _TurboTime_ racers shared a hug together for possibly the first ever. Ted was still sniffling but felt immensely more at ease feeling his family's presence there.

"I love both of you numbskulls," Turbo said to them, trying to sound flippant but not really doing a good job of it since he had his own tears running down his face. "I'm sorry I don't show it very often and that I've been hard on you guys lately."

Teddy couldn't help but cock a grin and tapped his knuckles against Turbo's helmet. "Wouldn't be much of a family if we didn't have quarrels."

"We love you too," Ted choked out, squeezing one of Turbo's arms that was still wrapped around him.

"Yeah we love ya, Turbs," Teddy chimed in, patting him on the back.

There wasn't much else to say after that.

* * *

_Phew one more chapter!_


	16. Chapter 16

_Xalfrea: Hello there and thanks again! :) I hope the conclusion is just as good as the rest of this was!  
_

* * *

**The Path Not Taken**

The train ride to_ Fix-It Felix, Jr._ had been a quiet one. Neither of the men knew what to say after having witnessed what took place in _TurboTime_. The idea that Rocky had gone so far off the deep end that he had attempted murder was beyond their understanding. Seeing the three racers bonding afterwards was so heartwarming to Felix that it got him thinking more about how his own co-workers received each other. If only everyone in his own game would come together like that in a time of need, receiving each other despite not getting along all the time...or even at all.

Upon arriving, the Nicelanders swarmed up to them to ask _Felix_ how he was doing and other typical brainless small talk. Ralph hung out in the back, feeling awkward again, and he moved to head for the privacy of his stump.

"Wait, Ralph!"

The wrecker stopped and twisted his neck to look at his protagonist in puzzlement. The Nicelanders had hushed themselves and were busy darting their eyes back and forth between the two. Felix sighed but he held a determined frame of mind and began to speak to everyone.

"I have something to say and I want all of you to hear it," he explained briefly. "I don't want any interruptions whatsoever."

He cleared his throat and started over. "Now Ralph and I have seen a lot of things today, most of it too shocking for words. Terrible things even. However, even though these things happened, I also saw a lovely demonstration of family bonding and love. It got me to thinking that we don't have that here."

Everyone gasped at this accusation and they all began to speak at once but Felix held his hand up to silence them. "Now, we're all a family, you know that. But we haven't been very accepting of one particular member, have we?"

Ralph startled at the notion of being considered a family member. He had been ostracized from them the entire five years they'd been plugged in and it was quite intriguing and terrifying at the same time be thought of in that way. Apparently, so did everyone else as they unanimously turned their heads to the side to stare at Ralph in bafflement. Felix coughed to get their attention back towards him.

"Ralph here is a good person, fellas, he helped someone out today that probably would've died. If that doesn't make him a "good guy" then I don't know what does." He paused before adding, "So as the game leader, I say he's a welcome member of our family that's entitled to the same benefits that we have. That includes coming to social functions and being involved with the various goings-on around here."

The wrecker felt his heart warm at hearing the announcement, or rather _demand_ that he be treated better amongst the Nicelanders. However, he worried that perhaps they would be bitter at being forced to be nice to someone that they obviously did not care for and thus make his situation worse. After a moment of awkward silence and the others taking turns looking at each other, Mary stepped forward. She was glancing nervously at both hero and villain alike, looking like she wanted to say something but almost too afraid to.

"Y-you're right, Felix," she finally said, tilting her head down in shame. "We _are_ a family, all of us."

She turned toward Ralph, who was now more shocked than he was earlier. "I apologize for making you feel less than the person you are, Ralph. I just assumed that since you were the "bad guy", that you were just..." -she shrugged helplessly-"well, a bad guy. If that makes sense."

Ralph felt his cheeks flush, not expecting anything like that to be said by...well, by any of them. Roy looked antsy but he issued an apology as well. Before long, they all had with the sole exception of Gene. He stood in the back, arms crossed and glaring heavily at his shoes. Deanna nudged him and he shot a glare at her, knowing that everyone was staring at him. He huffed to himself as he craned his neck up in order to look Ralph in the face.

"So, you helped perform a heroic act, eh?"

Everyone turned their attention to Ralph, who certainly did not like being put on the spot, and he rubbed his neck nervously. "Uh...yeah, I...I did."

Gene _hmph'd_ and uncrossed his arms, patting his flat palms against his sides in a nervous fashion. "Well," he sighed, "I guess if that's good enough for Felix, then it's good enough for me."

The rest of the Niceland population couldn't believe what they just heard. Ralph coughed in his hand and shifted his weight.

"Uh, thanks, Gene."

"BUT-" the blocky mustachioed mayor interjected, pointing a stern finger at the wrecker, "-this doesn't mean we're gonna be buddies anytime soon."

At this, Ralph gave a lop-sided smile. "Of course not, Gene, wouldn't want to expect too much out of you."

* * *

Word that Rocky had been killed in _TurboTime_ spread quicker than a rampant virus. Everyone muttered about what would happen to _RoadBlasters_ now, though it was surely a fact that it would be unplugged since its avatar could no longer come to work. Seeing as how the man's psychotic break had been witnessed in public, thanks to shooting down the little cheerleader earlier, no one really was upset about his death. Justice had been served and, in everyone's eyes, it had been in self-defense.

The remaining members of _RoadBlasters_ were understandably riled about their star being murdered but they became so looked down upon in the community that it didn't take much for them to agree to just stay inside their game. The next morning, after the arcade opened, the first kid to put his quarters into _RoadBlasters_ called Mr. Litwak over, who frowned upon seeing that the playable avatar with his red car had not appeared. He sighed and gave the kid a refund, telling him to play _TurboTime_ instead, before heading back to his office to grab one of his "Out Of Order" signs.

"Darn these new games," he muttered as he slapped the sign on the game's screen. "Figures I'd get one that had a bug in it."

He turned his attention behind him and saw _TurboTime_ still sitting there as faithful as ever as the kid maneuvered the little yellow-eyed driver around in his circle. Litwak cracked a smile and went to pat the top of the cabinet gently as if it were one of the children. In a way, one could say the games _were_ his children, and ol' Turbo had definitely stood the test of time so far. At least he still had the crowd-pleaser to fall back on and he knew his business would be just fine long as he had the simple racing game around for its many fans. When he saw Turbo give the player his trademark thumbs-up, it was almost like he was telling Litwak that everything would be "turbo-tastic" and not sweat it.

The owner couldn't help but grin back at the admittedly odd-looking racer and resisted the urge to give a thumbs-up in return. Couldn't have the kids thinking he was cuckoo...like his nana. Humming a nonsense tune, Litwak strolled into his office to call up his local repairman to see if he could come by later that day and unplug _RoadBlasters_.

* * *

Turbo stole out of the game soon after closing time; the twins were busy fighting in their own house over who got the shower first and the avatar decided to make a break for it while he was able to. Ted was faring better since the "incident" so long as he was staying distracted by either Turbo or Teddy. Hopefully, with time, he'd fully recuperate from the ordeal.

The star racer drove along the tunnel, his mind filled with the events of the last several days. He thought about the stark difference between _this_ life and his old one. Who knew that by changing minute details, that the structure of his world would become almost unrecognizable. His backstory may have changed but he still withheld the memories of his old one. He wondered what else would be different about his life now that _TurboTime_ was secure in its position as the most popular game and that he had begun working on re-bonding with the twins in a way that he hadn't before.

He came to a stop when he heard faint alarm sound when he crossed his entrance and the Surge Protector popped up unexpectedly.

"Name?" he asked him dryly without so much as looking up from his clipboard.

Turbo sighed, feeling that the little hologram was going to be doing this a _lot_ in the future, then flashed him his signature grin. "Turbo from _TurboTime_, the best racing game ever."

Surge muttered something about that under his breath before asking, "Where you headed?"

The racer shrugged his shoulders. "I just wanted to come out in the GCS for a minute, if that's cool. I'm going right back in." He hesitated before adding, "You know, you're going to tire yourself out if you try to checkpoint _everyone_. Not to mention, you might make a few enemies."

The blue-tinted man picked his head up to face him for the first time since the conversation began. "I am aware of that. After a week or so, I plan to ease down to stopping people at random instead of everyone, but right now I need to get a feel for what people's usual hangout spots are so I can be on the lookout for the more suspicious visits."

He adjusted his glasses and nodded at the racer before _blipping_ himself into the floor to disappear for the time being. Turbo took that to mean that he was allowed into the Station so he parked in place and then walked the rest of the way out. His eyes fell to the spot where the cheerleader had died and he sighed heavily, the guilt in playing a role in her death still weighing heavily on his mind. There were two other girls there, also cheerleaders wearing a similar outfit of pastel pink and yellow, only one was a blonde and the other a raven-haired girl. Both were wiping tears away and hugging each other and they both jumped a bit when they saw Turbo quietly approach, not sure what the popular racer wanted with them.

"I just wanted to say...sorry about your friend," he told them both quietly, folding his hands together in front of his waist.

The blonde wiped her eyes. "Thanks. She was a good person, always wanting to put a smile on people's faces."

Turbo thought to ask what her name had been then quickly decided against it. Having a name attached to her would only make him feel worse. He needed to make this short and sweet so he wouldn't be burdened with this for the rest of his life.

The dark-haired girl rubbed the blonde's shoulder in comfort. "Yeah and what really blows is that since she was an NPC, none of the gamers even noticed her missing today during our cut-scenes." She dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. "It's like she didn't matter or something."

The two girls stood up together with their arms laced together and headed back towards their game, a basketball game called _Slam Dunk!_ that was positioned close to where _RoadBlasters_ had been located. Turbo sighed, feeling a wincing pain at the thought that they would have to continue going to work without their friend, since apparently her NPC status didn't make her "worthy" enough of getting the game unplugged when she went missing.

He stood there close to the spot where the girls had been and closed his eyes for a moment before taking his helmet off out of respect.

"Thanks again, kid." He felt awkward talking to a blank space on the floor but given the circumstances he didn't have much choice. "You didn't have to do what you did, but you did. You didn't even know me." He sighed again, trying to come up with something else to say. "I doubt I would've done the same for a total stranger, but you seemed to have a good heart in you. I'm sorry you're not going to live a happy life like you deserve. Just know that you definitely made a difference in history."

Turbo figured that was good enough, feeling a little better since he'd said something, and placed his helmet back on his head. He walked over to one of the large trashcans that the GCS had scattered every few yards to remind people not to litter and he dug around in his pocket before pulling out the napkin. The scrawling handwritten combination that could unlock all the powers of the arcade's universe stared back at him, as if waiting for him to use it for his own selfish intentions once more. It had been nothing but trouble since the day Turbo had realized what all he could be used for. If he had never found it, he never would have been able to take over _Sugar Rush_ for his own and continue feed his mad lust for power and glory. So many had been hurt and killed over this simple little piece of paper, lives ruined and forever changed because of it.

He looked up at his entrance where the words "TurboTime" in red pixelated letters scrolled across the overhanging electronic sign. Deep down in his code, he knew that was where he belonged and now that it was secure in its spot for the time being, he could no longer think of abandoning it. Why would he need to? There wasn't anything better to pass it up for. Besides, he had _family_ there...people that counted on him daily to be there for them.

People that _he_ counted on as well.

Within seconds of viewing it for the last time, Turbo held the napkin over the trashcan and began ripping it into tiny pieces, the bits floating down into the barrel like snow, too small for anyone to be able to piece them back together again. He exhaled raggedly and swiped his palms together as if to wipe them clean.

"There_._ Now _no one_ can use it."

* * *

**EPILOGUE**

_TurboTime_ lasted until 1996 when one of the players accidentally jammed the steering wheel controller due to extra rough handling. It was a sad day at Litwak's for, even though the game was dated, it still proved to be a nostalgic landmark for the regulars who still dropped in. Felix and Ralph, who had over the years become great friends with the three racers, offered them to come and live at their home. Ralph had his own house, sized appropriately for his giant frame, and together he and Felix built a good-sized townhouse for the three newcomers to share together. The twins still like to pester and annoy their fellow racer but Turbo always figured out a way to get back at them in good nature.

Surge Protector continued to do a fine job keeping another "going Rocky" incident from occurring, though more than one person would claim that he _always_ performed a "random" check on them more than he did on others. Also, thanks to Felix and Ralph having become good friends, other hero/villains duos followed their example. Mario and Bowser could be constantly found betting on _Street Fighter II_ matches; Pac-Man and his ghosts frequented Tapper's together; Rogan and Agent G from _The House of the Dead_ had taken up teaching the zombies how to function like normal people, often with humorous results.

The very next year, 1997, a new racing game was plugged in: _Sugar Rush_. Everyone was excited about the adorable little chibi racers in their extravagant candy world, as no one had ever seen anything like it. The twins were dying to go inside and take a look, as the princess had granted formal invitations to everyone in the arcade to come visit. Turbo had initially refused, pretending to not want anything to do with it, but secretly he was dying of curiosity himself. He had this nagging feeling that Vanellope would remember him, though he knew it'd be fairly impossible since in this life she had just been plugged in.

The racers plus Ralph and Felix made plans to tour the location, four of the five oohing and aahing over every little thing. Turbo felt a rush of nostalgia and deja vu being here again, once more laying eyes on the candy cane trees, the taffy swamps, the Oreo guards, the many different racetracks. He and the twins had of course left their own game with their cars and Turbo wondered if perhaps the princess would grant them visitation rights to race here. Actually, now that he thought about it, that's what he should have done in the _first _time instead of ruining all the inhabitants' lives with a memory erasure and code tampering.

Upon reaching the castle, they were greeted by the ever-bored royal assistant, Sour Bill. Turbo resisted the urge to call him by his name as he knew the little candy creature would not remember him. It made him a little sad inside but his thoughts went elsewhere when they were greeted by a little girl in a pink princess dress.

"Hello, visitors, welcome to Sugar Rush!" the candy-haired child greeted them courteously with a slight curtsey. "I'm Princess Vanellope von Schweetz!"

Turbo was rather surprised to see her acting so royally; after he had dummied her out of the game, she had adopted a "wild child" personality full of sharp witty sarcasm. But now she was in her original, untampered state and she was acting the way that a young princess should be acting. As soon as he thought this, she dropped the act for a moment and gave Ralph a curious yet playful look.

"Wow, why are your hands so freakishly big?"

The twins snickered behind their hands and Ralph's face fell. "Gee, kinda rude aren't you, Princess Puffiness?"

"Ralph!" Felix hissed at him, trying to maintain a large friendly smile.

Instead of getting angry, Vanellope only laughed. "I like you, Ham-Hands." She then glanced over at Turbo and the twins, giving their outfits a good look. "Lemme guess, you guys are racers, too?"

Turbo crossed his arms and pretended to be annoyed, though honestly he was a tad uncomfortable being in her presence. "Wow, what a detective you are. How do you drive with that poofy dress on anyway?"

Much to everyone's shock, she teleported herself out of the dress and into her racing gear, a white tracksuit with teal and orange stripes for accents, her helmet bearing a small yellow crown on each side. Turbo was the only one that was unimpressed, as he already knew all this information. When he had turned her into a glitch, it had altered her special ability and caused her to randomly blip about without control. Had he not time-jumped, he could only assume that she regained control of her ability upon resetting her game.

"Aww, I hate that thing," she commented casually, signalling to Sour Bill to go put her dress back in her royal chambers.

Ted stared at her in awe. "How'd you do that?"

"Huh? Oh! Teleporting's kinda my special ability," Vanellope replied to him almost dismissively, as if it wasn't a big deal. "I can do it whenever I want, but when we're in the middle of a race, I can only do it if I hit a special power-up box." She yawned as if bored with the subject. "Hey, you guys still have your cars? I bet it'd be fun racing against you guys, since you've been around longer."

She teleported herself again behind the group and forced the door open. "Come on, slowpokes! Let's go meet all my friends and I'll give ya a grand tour!"

Ted grabbed his brother by the arm to pull at him. "Hey, I like this place! She seems nice!"

Everyone left the castle but Turbo stayed behind the group for a short while. He let out a deep sigh being back here again and looked around his old stomping grounds. Knowing that things were now the way they were supposed to be gave him a strange sense of peace however. Perhaps being here was the last piece of closure he needed to fully get over his old life. Smiling, he picked up the pace and skipped up ahead with the rest of his family, squeezing in between the both of them and throwing his arms around them.

"Bet I can beat you two in a race _blindfolded_ in a sappy girl's game like _this_."

Teddy snorted a bit of laughter and slapped Turbo on the back of his helmet. "Ha, yeah right, you'll be getting in just as many wrecks as we do because these tracks looks like it has a ton of twists, turns, and jumps. We're only accustomed to driving around in a simple circle, you know."

Turbo grinned like he had a secret but he wasn't going to tell it. All he said was, "Anything is possible for the greatest racer ever."

**~THE END~**

* * *

_Thank you to everyone that reviewed, fave'd, followed, etc. this story! I never thought it would ever be this popular, since I started it on a whim without much thought going into it and it turned out pretty darn good if I say so myself. Now that this one's over, I can get back to fully concentrating on my other fic! Again big huge thanks to everyone, as always you are all turbo-tastic! :D  
_

_PS yes, Felix will still marry Calhoun, I just didn't include that because this is first and foremost Turbo's story and didn't want to bog the story down by writing in a pointless 2012 scene.  
_


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